The Cape debuts on NBC and proves the Incredibles wrong

Has anyone seen The Incredibles? Fantastic movie, possibly my favorite Pixar film. In it, however, they make a very good argument for not wearing a cape when you design a superhero costume. They can get caught on things that you really don't want them to get caught on and are a huge hazard. But, as anyone who's read a comic book or seen a Batman movie knows, it's tough to do-away with capes because they're just so freakin' cool! Seriously. I mean, capes create an allure and make the wearer mysterious and larger than life. Plus, they flow in the wind and look so graceful. Not practical, maybe, but still cool.

NBC knows that, and they've made it a central theme to their new superhero drama The Cape, starring David Lyons as Vince Faraday, an honest cop in a corrupt town, framed for a crime he didn't commit and presumed dead. He returns as the titular costumed hero he and his son used to read about together to take down the head of the private police force (James Frain) now running the city, who's also a masked villain with freaky eyes named Chess, and regain his good name and his family. The Cape is assisted by the investigative blogger Orwell (Summer Glau, putting another notch in her fanboy fantasy belt), and by a circus gang of bank robbers (you read that right). Oh, and he wears a cape, which also acts as a weapon and can retract into his hood, which does away with a lot of the pesky issues the Incredibles mentioned.

So they had the two-hour debut tonight, and so far not bad. The Cape takes a bit of a different direction than the peacock networks last attempt at a genre show, Heroes. With Heroes, the storyline took more of a modern comic book series feel, with ordinary people dealing with extraordinary things; there were no tights involved and, at least in the first season, the characters dealt with their emerging powers and their enemies as realistically as possible, given the subject material. The Cape, however, has a more old school pulp comic feel to it. The villains have creepy eyes, scales or tattoos hinting at larger criminal networks. The Carnival of Crime are experts in escape artistry, fighting, illusions, cape kung fu, etc. and are willing to teach this new crime fighter all they know. It all centers around a good man whose been left with nothing to loose and must now do something really extreme to make it right. Personally, I like this direction. It's been a while since we got back to basics with superhero story lines. Sure they're not very realistic, but who needs realism here? We've got enough of that elsewhere, thank you very much. And while things happened very quickly over these two hours to set things up, and some of the dialogue was a little strained and corny, it stayed entertaining and engaging, plus completely free of irony. There were a few laughs, cool characters, a bunch of action and The Cape's costume is pretty awesome.

There's potential here, and I think I'm going to stick it out and see where it goes for now. I just hope The Cape goes somewhere really good and doesn't suffer the same sad fate as it's predecessor Heroes. Seriously, the less said of that, the better.

My annual war on Christmas begins even earlier

I saw the most ridiculous thing yesterday. A Christmas commercial. Do you notice the date on the calendar? Halloween hasn't even happened yet.

Hell to the no! I am such a big advocate of keeping Christmas at Christmas time, that to see a commercial before my second favorite holiday has even happened just burns my canolli. They are not taking Halloween from me, darn it! Who's with me?

Simpsons + Glee + Flight of the Conchords = AWESOME!

The Simpsons being back for their billionth season wouldn't normally be big news to me, but then I found out who was guest starring. In "Elementary School Musical", the 22nd season opener, Fox has decided to merge their powerhouses of entertainment together by having some of the Glee kids, namely Cory Montieth, Lea Michele and Amber Riley, stop by and add some music as fellow members of an arts camp Lisa attends. I did wonder, though; Where the heck were arts camps where I was growing up? Seriously?

But if that wasn't exciting enough, playing camp counselors were Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, otherwise known as Flight of the Concords. Their show that aired on HBO is dearly missed by all of us fans of guitar-based, digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo. Clement and McKenzie actually played a much bigger role in this episode than the Glee kids, but I can see why all the promos hyped the Glee stars instead, since Flight of the Concords have more of a cult following.

It's all good though. A solid episode with funny songs. I may have to download this one. Anything with more Concord action is alright by me.

Series One of Sherlock ends with a potential bang

NO! NO NO NO NO NO! DAMN IT, THAT'S NOT FAIR!

Why the passionate response? You see I just finished the third and last episode of Series One of Sherlock, the BBC update I posted about a few weeks ago. What you read above was pretty much my reaction from the couch. Only three episodes ever...and this one ended with a cliff-hanger!

WHAT? It's only been recently announced that the show's been picked up for a second series, and the writer's decide to end "The Great Game" like that, with all of us hanging on the edge of our seats? I just looked, and the next episode isn't scheduled to appear on English TV until the fall of 2011 at the earliest. A whole freakin' year from now! And Lord only knows when we'll see it here in Canada. WHAT THE HELL, MAN?!

Alright, I've vented. You know what? It was still a great show, and I will be counting down the days until we see more. I'm kind of foolish that way.

Just when I thought I was out...

I've had my ups and downs with American Idol for a while now, ranging from true love to serious disappointment. And like a bad relationship, the last couple of years I kept telling myself I wasn't going to watch, but I've ended up watching from start to finish anyway. But I always told myself that if Simon Cowell ever left, then there would definitely be no reason for me to keep tuning in, and that dark day has come to pass. And over the summer both Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi have jumped ship as well, so things were looking pretty bleak. Yep, definitely not going to watch now!

But then today they announced the new judges that would be joining Randy Jackson come the new year; Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.

Aww hell, now I'm going to have to see this. Damn you Fox!

Glee is back, and I'm seeing a pattern here...

...the pattern is that every time Glee comes back from some time off they always seem to start off on a downer.

Has anyone else noticed this? Lets review; "Showmance" airs after the sneak peak of the pilot, and the episode ends with Rachel having set the club back with a reckless group performance, and then finding out Finn is staying with Quinn. Bummer. Then "Hell-O" is the first episode after the fall hiatus, which ends with Rachel and Finn and Will and Emma broken up, plus the emergence of sleazebag Jesse St. James to play with Rachel's heart. Major bummer!

Now tonight Season 2 kicks off with "Audition", and what we get is a solid episode, but once again ending on a down note (pun totally intended).

So what happened, you ask? If you haven't seen it, then skip these next two paragraphs. Things start of promisingly enough, lulling us into a false sense of security. Finn and Rachel are together, New Directions is down a member (so long Matt, we hardly knew ye), but they're eager for new recruits, including new football player Sam, and Filipino student Sunshine (Charice), and Will and Sue are BFF as they join forces against a common enemy, new football coach Shannon Beiste. Plus, the amateur documentary style opening was hilarious (we found out Brittany spent her summer lost in the sewers).

But problems surface early; Tina and Artie are broken up as she's bonded with Mike over the summer and Will gets down and dirty in his dealings with Beiste. And then things gradually get worse, despite the awesome musical numbers for "Empire State of Mind" (a public lunchtime performance to instill excitement about Nationals being in New York), "Billionaire", "Telephone", etc. Rachel's self-absorption (seriously, that girl is nuts) ends up screwing the club's chances to add Sunshine to their ranks and she ends up being swept up by Vocal Adrenaline's new coach. Finn gets kicked off the Football team, loosing his quarterback status and dissuading Sam from joining the glee club when he sees first-hand how it affects your status in the school. Quinn ends up back on the Cheerios, but at the cost of Santana's standing as head-cheerleader, causing serious tension between the two. And Will looses Sue's friendship when he decides to be nice to Beiste. Things end with Rachel singing "What I Did for Love" (what she did indeed), before stepping into the choir room presumably to beg the club's forgiveness.

A great episode, but once again I feel depressed. If there is a pattern here, what is the plan? To start off so low that the only place to go is up? If that is the idea it's working, because Glee is not likely to slow down anytime soon, nor am I likely to stop watching.

And if this pattern is to continue, then things will perk up soon. Next week is the much hyped Britney Spears episode, and future episodes include a tribute to Rocky Horror and a Christmas episode. So we all know it's going to be great, and gosh darn it I just can't wait!

A new modern update of Sherlock Holmes and it's not House!

I almost missed this show. Let me say that again; I almost didn't see this! Can you believe that? This is so up my alley it's not even funny. The only reason I heard about it was because I was checking my email and once I signed out I came across a link for new TV on Canadian channels, and there it was. And of course, I was intrigued, and immediately marked it on my calendar so I wouldn't miss it.

That show is Sherlock, a BBC series that aired across the pond earlier this year and has now made it's way onto Showcase here in Canada. The premise is that it's the Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson we all know and love, plus other familiar characters like Inspector Lestrade, Mrs. Hudson and Mycroft Holmes (plus a certain notorious villain), but their adventures are set in 21st century London instead of 19th century London. A modern retelling if you will. So we have Holmes practicing his deductive skills amidst the practices of forensic science and during the height of the information age.

And while that sounds like a total gimmick, it works so well. So well. Our two heroes call each other John and Sherlock now, because nobody calls their friends by their last names these days. The John Watson presented here is still a veteran of Afghanistan, but the war he fought in was the war on terror instead of the second anglo-afghan war. Plus he still writes about the adventures he has, but on a blog.

As for this Sherlock Holmes, he is a modern man in every sense of the word. He makes full use of texting and the Internet and posts a website on the art of deduction, but he can still read a crime scene or a person with just his eyes and a magnifying lens and make it look like he has ESP or something (a notion he would find laughable). The modernness never feels forced, I think because Holmes himself was always a modern man, even in Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.

The first episode, and there are only three 90 minute episodes, so I don't know if that counts as a series, is called "A Study in Pink", and as you may have guessed it's an update on "A Study in Scarlett" the very first Holmes story written. Many of the same elements are there, including Holmes and Watson meeting and forging their immortal partnership. The entire 90 minutes was so gripping I couldn't dream of turning it off. There was action, a great chase scene, intense stand offs, and a surprise twist regarding one character that I never saw coming. And the two leads fantastically embody their characters. Benedict Cumberbatch (great name) perfectly portrays Holmes' energy, eccentricities, humor and cool demeanor. Plus he's fairly easy on the eyes, which I can always appreciate. And Martin Freeman, who I recognized from the BBC's The Office and The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, nicely pulls off the more down-to-earth counterbalance to Holmes, while keeping Watson a smart, resourceful, funny man-of-action that he is.

Can't wait to see what else is in store, and I'm so glad I came across that article. Funny how fate comes along and brings a new obsession.

Oh yeah...the Emmy's were on.

Geez, I was so busy with everything else it almost didn't clue in that the Emmy's were on this past Sunday. By that point my brain was so fried with Fan Expo it almost didn't register. Yeesh!

So just a quck word or two. Jimmy Fallon did fine as a host. Loved the opening Glee number (though could've done without Kate Gosslin). Cheered for Jim Parsons and Jane Lynch winning acting awards, as well as Neil Patrick Harris for his role on Glee and Betty White for SNL. Still annoyed that Hugh Laurie keeps getting shut out by Bryan Cranston. Surprised by Modern Family's win and disappointed by Glee's loss.

There we go, short and sweet. See you next year, and hopefully I'll have the energy to give the ceremony it's due.

Fan Expo 2010: Day 3 (Last Day)

Ahhhh, last day. But what a day it was. I'm exhausted, I'm sore, but damn it I'm happy! And I'm so glad I did all three days to get the true experience.

So, to recap: Got down to the convention center right around 10 am. The line down Lower Simcoe was almost under the tunnel, but not quite, and before too long I was back up across the parking garage and very nearly where I was yesterday. But Lord it was hot. I stood baking in the sun for over an hour, listening to very loud geeks discuss whether or not David Tennant's sideburns are real and whether or not Data could have a child biologically. Sigh. I ended up meeting one of those geeks, dressed head to toe in a Doctor Who suit, named Ellen, when I discovered she was also racing to the line-up to get James Marster's autograph. It was just after 11am by that point, and he was starting at 11:30. She made a beeline for one of the merchant tables, however, to buy a sonic screwdriver, so when I got to the line-up a mother/daughter team by the name of Denise and Alicia got in behind me, and then Ellen got in behind them. Denise and Alicia chatted me up as we waited, and it turns out they're pretty hardcore fans. Alicia apparently had even been to a Twilight convention.

As we got closer, and I could see Mr. Marsters sitting up front, dressed in a blue t-shirt that hugged his torso nicely, I began to get nervous. Just as I had done with Bruce Campbell the year before, my nerves were getting to me. I checked with my new friends if I looked alright, and they assured me I looked fine and to relax, it was going to be fine. But still, this is James Marsters were talking about. There was no relaxing here.

Once I paid for my autograph and handed over my DVD cover of Spike episodes that I wanted him to sign, I found I was having the opposite problem that I did with Mr. Campbell. Instead of rambling, I clammed up! The two people ahead of me had lovely chats with the man at the booth, and he seemed happy to talk with them (this was a little less formal than the session I went to last year), but as soon as I got up there it was almost death. I smiled and said hi, he said hi and shook my hand (I TOUCHED HIM!), I asked how he was and he said fine. He complimented me on my hair, and I said thanks, I had just got it done. Then there was a lull as he signed my cover, so I mentioned that I had been to the Q&A yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. He said he had fun to, but wished that the hosts hadn't asked quite so many questions so that the fans could get more of an opportunity. And here's where I choked. In retrospect, I could've said how his singing was my favorite part, but my mind went blank at that moment. I smiled, nodded, said thank you very much it was nice to meet you, and made a hasty retreat. Gaaah. I hope he could see I was nervous and he didn't think anything of it. He meets lots of people, I'm sure, so he could probably tell. But I went and stood at one of the tables behind the lines for the autograph tables and waited until I settled down and was sure that the ink had dried on the signature before sliding it back into the DVD case with trembling fingers. Still, I looked at that signature, in silver ink, and was so happy. I had done it! I had met Mr. Marsters, shaken his hand, spoken with him and got his autograph. So cool! That disc will now have a place of honor on the shelf.

After that I had another mission. I had t-shirt requests from my brother and my roommates sister and brother-in-law. After looking at some of the tables that had shirts, and getting side-tracked at the Marvel table with free comics and a photograph with Captain America's shield (which made me look so tiny, as you can see) I went back to the big Stylin booth to find two Bazinga shirts for my roommates people, and a Green Lantern shirt for my brother. Mission accomplished, and they still had the sizes I was looking for.

After all this, I figured I'd earned a break, and I was not going to make the same mistake I did yesterday, where I only lived on granola bars. I got a slice of pizza to keep my energy up (and listened to a kid have a full blown tantrum in a stroller. Lovely). Then, as it was just past 1pm by that point and I had some time to kill before the afternoon events I wanted to attend I worked the floor, searching through boxes and boxes of discount graphic novels and getting some more free stuff. There weren't quite as many people as there were yesterday, which made navigating the crowds easier.

By the time I made it to the lowest floor for the Vampires in Film and Television panel discussion I was really feeling the exhaustion. Because of that, and because of the podium blocking off the table from where I was sitting so I could only see three of the five people, and the guy sitting beside me leaned forward the entire time, so I had to as well to see even that, I didn't catch every point that was made. But what I did catch was very interesting, like how some mediums use vampirism as a commentary on homosexuality, and the defanging, so to speak, of vampires in YA fiction when adult vampire fiction is so mature. There was a little talk on the difference between Western and Eastern vamps, and on favorite vampire movies or books. I do love my vampires.

Once the discussion was over I raced up one floor to find the room where they were screening an episode of Supernatural. I found it full, so I stood for the first few minutes, but people were coming and going, so it didn't take long to find a seat, and even though it was in the back I could see everything perfectly. I hoped it would be one of the many episodes I haven't seen yet, but nope; it was "Lazarus Rising". Still, an excellent episode, introducing favorite character Castiel, and I stayed and watched the whole thing.

After that it was just before 5, with a little more than an hour until the Expo shut down. So I decided to make a few last loops around the convention floor. At the Tron booth they were throwing out t-shirts and light disc frisbees, but I was not fortunate enough to grab one. What I did find though was the other iTunes card I wanted sitting out on the DC table, so I grabbed one for myself and some for other people. Sweet.

A lot of the collectibles I was looking at were so expensive, so I ended up getting one more graphic novel. By then it was twenty to 6, so I took a moment to take every in one last time, and then went downstairs to head back out onto Front street and to Union station. The ride back had a slight delay (what is with Subways this weekend?) but nothing major, so I got back home alright.

I'm sad it's all over, but I'm also wiped, so maybe it's good that it is only three days. Back to work I go tomorrow, but I feel happy. I feel like I was a part of something special, something big, and the more I go to Fan Expo, the more I feel that these memories will stay with me forever. I really feel I belong, and it's a great feeling.

Another year until we do it all again. I'll see you there.

Fan Expo 2010: Day 2

I think I'm in love. With who you ask? James Marsters. Now lots of you will probably think, yeah, we know, you've been in love with Spike for ages. True, but now I'm in love with the man behind Spike.

And so leads us to my second day at Toronto's geek heaven. The trip to and from was much easier this time around (thank God, no smoke on the tracks I guess). How would I describe today? Exhausting and not without it's mild irritants, but mostly...magical.

I arrived at the Convention Center around 9am and found a line, as I'd expected, but a much shorter line this time around, only going down Simcoe a little ways. And though I travelled alone, I managed to make a line buddy by the name of John. We chatted for some time about likes, dislikes, home life and what brought us here today. He was there mostly for gaming and anime, so the opposite of what I was there for, but we found a lot to talk about regardless and he explained the finer points of his costume to me.

I got in at about 10:15am. Perfect. I had time to take a quick look around, ask about the iTunes gift cards and discover that they were only being given out to people buying tickets that day (Boo!) and to find the room, two floors down, where the DC Universe panel discussion was being held. That was a very interesting talk between some DC writers and artists about some upcoming projects, and some very interesting questions came up (among them were what everyone's favorite DC and Marvel characters were).

I left that a few minutes early to get in line for the Tron Legacy sneak peak. I was a little worried once I saw the line, but it turns out it was in a huge theatre, so finding seats was no trouble. There was some talk of everyone having to confiscate their cameras and phones, as they were showing secret movie scenes, but fortunately it did not come to that. They just had security guards to keep an eye on things. Once in my seat I met another Melissa and her mother and brother. The Tron preview was hosted by InnerSPACE hosts Ajay Fry and Teddy Wilson, and featured a peak at the new video game with one of the games designers and a Wii demo on the big screen. Then we had a great compilation of clips showing Tron references in pop culture, from 30 Rock to Family Guy to music videos and South Park. Then a very cool surprise; Mr. Bruce Boxleitner was brought out, an actor who has starred in both the original Tron and the upcoming feature, and is maybe best known for starring in Babylon Five. Then we were shown both a trailer and seven minutes of never before seen footage, all in 3D (glasses were handed out as we came in). Honestly, the movie looks pretty cool, and I'm excited to see it. Mr. Boxleitner came out with Ajay Fry to answer a few questions from the audience. I quite enjoyed Mr. Boxleitner, he was funny and charming. One thing he pointed out was that the original Tron was slammed by the critics at the time and did poorly at the box office, but he feels that some of the blame for that lands on the fact that E.T. came out that same summer and, as he put it, sucked all the oxygen out of the room. But, he was quick to point out, E.T. doesn't have a new movie coming out 27 years later. The audience cheered at that. He also encouraged all of us to go out and see it four times each opening weekend.

By the time that wrapped up and we had deposited our 3D glasses in the recycle bin it was a little after 1. I knew it was too late to try to go to the Stan Lee presentation, but as that wasn't high on my list of things to do this weekend that was alright. I was ready to get some lunch. But, by then the size of the crowd had ballooned to almost locust-like proportions. There was a nice sized crowd of people waiting to get in outside, so leaving the building was impossible unless I wanted to join the wait to get back in. And they were only letting people back upstairs a few at a time to try to control the crowd, so there was a crowd of people waiting around the escalator. Seeing I had nowhere to go and nothing to do, I decided to go get in line for the James Marsters Q&A, even though that wasn't for a couple of hours. I found the right line, got comfy, found a granola bar I'd packed for just such an emergency and settled in with my iPod Nano. Plus I had to deal with a mass of people, including a few behind me who kept talking at booming volumes and kept wiggling into my personal space. Grrr.

But you know what? Totally worth it! I got a great seat, just a couple rows back from the front and on the aisle, so I had the clearest view I think I've ever had at Fan Expo. After another half-hour, our hosts (Teddy Wilson and Natasha Eloi) introduced the man of the hour. He's looking good, that guy; his brown hair's grown out a little bit and he had on a sleeveless shirt, showing off his arms. Meow. It was funny hearing him talk and not sound British. He sounds very American, and I thought at times I detected a Southern twang to his voice. Still, I'm not picky.

He was an absolute delight. He was funny, intelligent, gave nice full answers and was great with the fans. Turns out he's a well rounded actor. He's not only done the Sci Fi stuff like Spike or Captain John or Brainiac, but also the stage and Shakespeare and more main stream stuff as well. When asked about playing villains he talked about how in Shakespeare there are no villains (with the exception of Iago or maybe Richard III), and that that's how he's always seen the characters he's played. He told some great stories about working on "Once More With Feeling" and how hard the cast worked to make that come to life. He talked about his new projects and how much he relates to his character on Caprica. He talked about Angel and having to make it look like he was kicking David Boreanaz's butt while Boreanaz had a bad knee but wouldn't give up until the scene was finished. Of course he was asked about his kiss on Torchwood with John Barrowman. Again, meow. He described Barrowman as a born leader who helped him out of a tight spot while filming and made him feel comfortable about that hot and heavy scene. Apparently Marsters was originally hoping to get on Doctor Who but they didn't need him for anything there and came up with this role on Torchwood instead. Our gain.

A couple of my favorite responses: when asked if there was anything about Spike he would've played differently; "Nothing." And when asked if it was better playing a supercomputer than a vampire; "Actually, I don't think anything's been better than Spike." Yay! Spike's voice even made a brief appearance this afternoon.

But the most awesome thing came right near the end. He sang for us. Someone asked him if he remembered any lyrics from "Once More With Feeling" and would he sing them for us. He confessed that he didn't, but he could sing something else. A song from a TV movie he'd done for SyFy. I made sure the video option on my camera was running. Honestly, it was lovely when he started singing. For a song from a TV movie it was haunting and sad, and he sold it. The whole auditorium went silent. I was beaming and felt something pretty deep. It was a real moment.

And then he finished, and it was over. One last round of applause and a standing ovation, myself included. I left feeling so satisfied and happy. I knew that if I'd experienced nothing else that whole day that one hour would have made the trip worth it.

The crowd had dispersed somewhat by that point, so I made it back upstairs and basically walked around for about an hour and a half looking at comics and collectibles and displays until my shoulders ached, my feet started to hurt and my mind went numb. I got some graphic novels, some free stuff, and checked to see when Mr. Marsters would be signing autographs tomorrow. Then a little after 6 I left to head back to the subway. They were keeping the Expo open until 8 tonight to meet demand, but I figured it's been a good day and the time had come to leave.

So there's two good days. Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring. Last day, a few things on the agenda. How will it all go down? To be continued...

Supernatural Soundtrack - What a rip!

I just caught wind that there is a soundtrack for the show Supernatural. Immediately, I'm excited. I've always been both a fan of the show and a fan of the music that's on it. You see, Dean Winchester is stuck in a pretty firm time warp when it comes to his musical tastes. He's a big fan of Metallica and 80s rock in general, or as his brother Sam once referred to it; "The greatest hits of the Mullet rock era" (to which Dean gave the immortal reply; "Driver picks the music. Shotgun shuts his cake-hole"). The very thought that there's a CD out there that compiles all this great music that fits the show to a "T" was enough for me to emit squeals of joy.

But those squeals were quickly stifled. The soundtrack is entirely instrumental. What the hell? It begs the question; why put it out at all if you're not going to give the fans what they want? Likely it has something to do with money; royalties can be a pain to pay.

Another great opportunity lost, and I'm back to playlists on my iPod. Anyone else as ticked off as I am?

My Second Helping of True Blood

I finally got the second season of True Blood on DVD from my library and finished watching it last week. I think this second offering may have been even better than the first. With the inclusion of religious intolerance, vampire intrigue, an ever expanding world of the supernatural and a maenad to add a touch of crazy (look 'em up), the second season provided further character development, cliff-hangers to keep you guessing, moments to make you laugh, cry and cringe, and a climax that was thrilling. My man Eric showed a lot of depth this season, Sookie and Bill grew closer and other characters learned more about who they are. It was all so...awesome!

Now season 3 is on air and I'm missing it! I'll have to wait for that to arrive on DVD too. It's the waiting that's going to kill me.

Movie Review: The A-Team

After a few false starts (read: shows being sold out) and much speculation on whether it would be worth checking out I finally saw The A-Team. Before we get into it though, bear in mind my analysis of this pic comes from having never seen the TV show before, so I apologize in advance to all die hard fans out there who might find that I'm lacking the true scope of all this, but just consider it my two cents from the outside looking in.

The A-Team was much of what I expected; lots of action and maybe not a whole lot of plot...but damn it, it was fun! The action was truly action, and the plot, though thin, was enough to keep you guessing and intrigued as you watched it unfold. The premise is basically the same as the TV show: an elite special forces unit is convicted of a crime they didn't commit, and now must try to clear their names (this time the setting has been updated to the Iraq war instead of the Vietnam war), and of course the people who set them up soon realize they screwed over the wrong guys. But I can't overemphasize those action scenes! Motorcycles and tanks and helicopters and guns and explosions. Perfect for a summer movie.

But not only that, the four members of the A-Team are just so likeable, and the actors who play them have great chemistry together. For this outing we have the always classy Liam Neeson as team leader Col. 'Hannibal' Smith, his hair dyed silver as an homage to the original actor to fill that role, the late George Peppard. Hannibal's "boys" include the nicely buffed and very gorgeous Bradley Cooper as Lt. 'Faceman' Peck; Ultimate Fighting Champion Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson as Sgt. B.A. Baracus; and District 9 star Sharlto Copley as Cpt. 'Howling Mad' Murdock (roles originally inhabited by Dirk Benedict, Mr. T. and Dwight Schultz respectively). Wow, that was a lot of nicknames to type. But this quartet was a real team on screen, and each inhabited the uniqueness of their characters, from B.A.'s toughness to Face's superficiality. Copley in particular impressed me; what passed for crazy in the original series doesn't do so now, and he brought a manic and hilarious new take on Murdock, with glimpses of something deeper.

Patrick Wilson and Brian Broom make suitably slimy villains, and Jessica Biel adds a feminine touch with a tough, smart female character who (of course) has a romantic past with Face. Overall, lots of energy and lots of laughs abound. And from what I hear, despite any flaws, this film does capture the noisiness and bombast of the TV show on which it's based. So for a movie adaptation, what more could you ask for?

My Verdict: Not cerebral, but who cares? It's just awesome.

The only Doctor I trust

There's a t-shirt on ThinkGeek.com that I have been sorely tempted to buy. On it is a 1950's style London police call box. Underneath that are the words "You never forget your first Doctor."

To the uninitiated into the pantheon of Sci Fi, that t-shirt probably wouldn't make a lick of sense. What, some would ask, does a police call box have to do with a doctor? And what the heck is a police call box, anyway? (There's a Wikipedia article on them here.) Shall I fill you in? The shirt is in reference to Doctor Who, a British Sci Fi series that first aired all the way back in 1963. I actually just finished reading the graphic novel Doctor Who: The Forgotten, which was excellent by the way, so it's been on my mind lately. Why should anyone care? Because Doctor Who has the distinction of being the longest running Sci Fi series ever. Ever! And not just in England, or in North America, but in the entire world! Check the Guinness Book of World Records, it's in there. 31 seasons (or series, as they call them across the pond), and as of June 12, 2010, 767 episodes! Considering how some shows barely last a season, that's an amazing feat.

And that's also a surprising feat, considering that the premise for the show is a little out there. It would be almost impossible to summarize the entire show here, but in a nutshell the main character is an eccentric, mysterious, 900-and-something-year-old humanoid alien known only as The Doctor. From the planet Gallifrey, the Doctor is a Time Lord, which is an extraterrestrial race that has mastered time travel through advanced technology. The Doctor achieves this through a device called the TARDIS (and to really earn my geek stripes: that stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space). The TARDIS is a vast, complicated space ship capable of going to any point in time or any planet in the galaxy, but from the outside looks like a standard police call box (aahhh, now the t-shirt makes sense). With this ship the Doctor goes on many adventures to face foes and right wrongs, often bringing along at least one companion on his journeys (a companion is a general term for whomever the Doctor travels with, often human and often female, who acts as a stand-in for the audience).

So how can the series have lasted this long, you may ask? I mean, surely one actor hasn't played the Doctor since the 1960s, right? You'd be right, and actually the show's creators found a way around this, and rather brilliantly I think. You see, Time Lords are able to do something called Regeneration. What that means is when they've been critically injured and/or about to die, they're able to regenerate into a new body. Same character, different appearance. So whenever an actor is tired of the role, a 'death' scene is filmed, and a new actor steps into the part. As of right now, eleven different actors have played the Doctor over the years, starting with William Hartnell in 1963, all the way up to Matt Smith, who took over the role in January of this year. Likewise there has also been a stream of companions and villains, many of which are unique to one Doctor, others of which have transcended several regenerations.

You know how the shirt says you never forget your first Doctor? For me, that would be Paul McGann, the eighth incarnation. My first exposure to the world of Who came in May of 1996 (I would've been 14 at the time). Fox had created a TV movie with the BBC, starring McGann, as a continuation of the Who franchise. The show had been off the air since 1989, and this movie was intended to be a back-door pilot for an American produced Doctor Who series, which would've also starred McGann. Alas, it was no meant to be, as the film did not do well on American televisions and the show was not picked up. Though McGann only appeared on the screen once as the Doctor, he continued to play him in radio serials and the Eighth Doctor appeared in other media. I remember when the movie aired, but as I had school the next day I was only able to watch the first half. Looking back on it now, I realize it was a pretty bad movie. Still, in spite of that, it managed to capture my imagination, and I never forgot about it.

Then in 2005, I got my second taste of Who when the BBC decided to relaunch the series as an hour long, modern, action-packed Sci Fi drama. Bring in Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston (btw, the Doctor's change from his eighth to his ninth incarnations is the only regeneration that has not been shown on screen). After one season, Eccleston dropped out and then David Tennant stepped in as the Tenth Doctor (pictured above with companion Martha), who is probably my favorite incarnation thus far, and also a huge fan favorite in general. Though I haven't seen all the episodes of the revamped series, every single one I have seen has been tense, funny, deep, filled with action, sometimes dark and often resonant. It's really breathed new life into the series as a whole and created a whole new fanbase. While I haven't seen Matt Smith's work on the role yet, the general buzz has been good. Things are going well.

So there's Doctor Who in a fairly large nutshell. It has a cult following, critical acclaim and awards, longevity, instantly recognizable theme music and a fair share of spin-offs, including other British Sci Fi cult series Torchwood. It's influence in the Sci Fi world as well as in pop culture, particularly British culture, is beyond measure. Call me crazy, but I think it's here to stay, at least for a while longer.

If you're curious, check out this YouTube clip to see the different regenerations over the years in order. Now, I should probably just order that t-shirt. Fan Expo's coming, and I'll need things to wear.

After a long & glorious year, season one of Glee ends at Regionals

Can you believe it was over a year ago that we got our first taste of Glee? May 19 2009 was when the pilot episode first aired as a sneak peek right after American Idol. Two long hiatus', 21 episodes, 5 albums, a slew of guest stars and a whole lot of musical numbers later it all came down to tonight. And I think you'll be hard pressed to find a single Gleek that was disappointed with how the show wrapped up it's ground-breaking first season. Check out my recap but be warned, lots of spoilers ahead.

"Journey" saw the long-awaited showdown between our intrepid heroes New Directions and bitter rivals Vocal Adrenaline. And after Jesse St. James defected back to VA last week and showed what kind of lying despicable snake he is, I was eager to see their asses handed to them on a platter tonight. But *gasp* Sue Sylvester is one of the judges, along with fellow celebrities Josh Groban, Olivia Newton-John (both guest starring as themselves) and local news anchor Rod Remington. All hope seems lost. To add insult to injury, Emma tells Will that she's seeing someone else. Moment I Almost Cried #1: Will, after hearing Emma's news, is driving in his car and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" comes on; Will pulls over and bursts into tears.

But the team rallies back, deciding that even if they don't win they're going to plow ahead because they love to do it. And of course they do a medley of Journey songs at regionals, with Will watching from the wings, including "Faithfully", a mash-up of "Anyway You Want It" and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'"...and of course, and this brings us to Moment I Almost Cried #2: a new version of "Don't Stop Believing'". Ahhhh! It was a fantastic performance, one of the best I've seen on the whole show, and that's saying something.

Quinn's mother Judy, who you'll probably remember kicked Quinn out of the house upon discovering her pregnancy, made a surprise appearance at regionals and caught Quinn coming off stage to ask her to come back...'cause, you know, kicking your daughter out when she needs you the most can all be fixed by just coming to one of her shows. Before Quinn can unleash the anger that's plain on her face, her water breaks (kind of convenient for the plot, but alright). While Vocal Adrenaline is overdoing "Bohemian Rhapsody" on stage Quinn brings little Beth into the world at a local hospital with her mother, Puck and Mercedes in the delivery room with her; otherwise known as Moment I Almost Cried #3.

The judges confer amongst themselves, and Olivia Newton-John reveals herself to be a bigger bitch than Sue. The glee clubs gather on stage to hear the news...and New Directions looses! WHAT? Not only did they loose the championship to Vocal Adrenaline they didn't even place runner-up, not fulfilling their end of the deal with the school's principal to keep the club running. Oh no! Honestly I had a suspicion that might be the outcome. You don't want the show to conquer all of it's obstacles too quickly in the series.

Thinking the club is over with, the kids gather on stage at the school's auditorium to tell Will how much he and the club has meant to them and to sing "To Sir, With Love" especially for him. That was Moment I Almost Cried #4.

But this is Glee after all, and just when thing's look their bleakest a happy ending is often not too far away. This time it came in the most unlikely of places. Sue ended up buying the club one more year, having not only been moved to defend them against Newton-John at the competition but to realize that with the club gone her sparring matches with Will would come to an end. And who wants that, let alone a woman who lives for a good fight? Sue continues to be a complex and oddly lovable character, and with Jane Lynch's handling of her and the writers keeping her one step away from being a caricature it really works.

So good news all around. Shelby adopts Quinn's and Puck's baby, Will professes his love for Emma and leaves that hanging for next season, Rachel and Finn seem to be back together and the kids can keep being social outcasts and loving every minute of it. The final scene brings us to Moment I Almost Cried #5; with everyone reunited in the choir room, Will returns the favor to his kids with a rendition of "Over the Rainbow". A touching end to a true phenomenon.

So we only have to wait until September for new episodes. We've waited before, we can do it again. Glee's already been picked up for a third season, so hopefully this Journey isn't over yet. Now I want to be in a show choir. Anyone want to start one with me?

Who else saw the finale? Any other takes on it? You know where to turn...

Ladies and Gentlemen, Your American Idol!

We have a winner! The moment we've been waiting for since January finally arrived tonight as Lee DeWyze, the former paint salesman and underdog of the competition beat out Crystal Bowersox for the Season 9 crown. As per usual it was a star-studded event, and was, I think, a fitting conclusion to a very bizarre season.

After seeing deserving contestants get eliminated early and not so great contestants linger longer than they should, it came down to Mommasox and The Boxer. Crystal was definitely there on talent, and while Lee was definitely a talented singer, I think he was also there because of a popularity vote. But he earned his popularity, there is no doubt. When he started he was clearly lacking in confidence, and over the last few weeks he's really come into his own. Personally, I would've been happy if either contestant had one, but I admit I was rooting for Lee. Some will wonder if the right Idol was crowned, but I'm satisfied with America's decision.

Quite a few good performances tonight, with Alice Cooper, Christina Aguilera, Kris Allen, Hall & Oates, Chicago, the Gibbs, Janet Jackson (who sounded creepily like Michael during her first song), etc. all showing up to perform. One person I was happy to see was Bret Michaels, who did a duet with Casey James. After nearly loosing him to a brain hemorrhage, it's good to see Michaels back on his feet and singing.

But tonight was special for another reason: it was Simon's last night as a judge. I'll take a minute to let you absorb that concept. Alright, let's move on. It's Simon Cowell's last night people! The guy's been with the show since the beginning, 10 freakin' years! He's one of the faces of the whole industry. Where does he think he's going anyway?

Despite that horrifying news, I thought they had a good send off for him. With a tribute to his snarky comments, a montage of favorite moments, a special visit from Paula Abdul and previous Idol winners (all except David Cook for some reason) and contestants singing for him, the producers worked hard to make it special without taking too much focus away from the Top 2. Then the man himself got up and said some heartfelt words to the people behind the show, his fellow judges, the contestants and to Ryan. It was touching for all concerned. Man I'm going to miss him. I don't even know if I can watch the show without him. But I wondered if I would tune in last year and I still watched. Again, time will tell.

All in all, I'm glad I hung in there this season. What did you all think? Will you miss Simon as much as I will? Do you think the right contestant won?

Joss Whedon + Neil Patrick Harris + Glee = Very cool!

So tonight we were finally treated to the Joss Whedon directed, Neil Patrick Harris guest starring episode of Glee entitled "Dream On". As you would expect from the title, the episode focused mostly on the idea of following your dreams. And as you may also expect, it was a pretty darn cool offering.

As both a Whedonite and a Gleek, I was salivating with anticipation over this cultivation of combined awesomeness. And while I have a few minor quibbles, the episode as a whole did not disappoint.

Neil Patrick Harris played Bryan Ryan, a former glee kid and classmate/rival of Will's, who first comes on the scene as a bitter, anti-show-choir advocate, but later attempts to pursue his former passion of singing. He and Will have an awesome duet of one-upmanship with Aerosmith's "Dream On" (did you notice that song and the episode title? They're the same!) Meanwhile Rachel and her now on-again boyfriend Jesse dig up dirt on Rachel's birth mother. And Artie, with some encouragement from Tina, wonders if he will ever walk again and pursue his dream of dancing.

Though there were laughs (like the show choir recovery group, or Sue's secret room "like Letterman"), there was quite a bit of drama. SPOILER ALERT: We discover that Rachel's mother is Vocal Adrenaline coach Shelby Corcoran, played by Idina Menzel (who, I realized while watching the show, does look a lot like Lea Michele). And we find out that Jesse is still working for Vocal Adrenaline and the plan is for him to return to his former choir, but he confesses to Shelby tonight that he does like Rachel. Will he turn out to be a villain in the end, or will he stay with New Directions because of genuine affection for the show's resident bossy ball of fussiness? Time will tell. But we finally got to see Menzel show off her vocal chops with a duet of "I Dreamed a Dream" between Shelby and Rachel. END SPOILER ALERT.

Under Whedon's direction, the episode balanced big scope with character intimacy, something that Whedon is very deft in. From the big production of the "Safety Dance" number and it's mix of stationary and hand-held cameras to the smaller scenes of two people in an office with the sun shining between the blinds, things looked and felt great.

My big complaint? More of Neil Patrick Harris please! I mean jeez, we only had like two songs with him, and one of them wasn't even a full music number, it was in a bar. When Kristen Chenoweth guest stars she has at least three full numbers. What, are they afraid to unleash his full and considerable musical chops on us? We can take it! They better be saving it for another episode, that's all I can say. But other than that, yay!

Only three episodes left for season 1. How will it all play out? Can we stand the suspense? You know where to vent or praise, see below.

Heroes and Law & Order both cancelled

By the way, I'm writing from my sick-bed, taken down by a cold on my weekend off. There is no justice in the world. But moving on...

So it's that time of year when TV networks announce which shows will last another season and which are getting the axe. Some of the announced cancelled shows are no real surprise. But two of NBC's cancellations stand out to me; Law and Order and Heroes. L&O is a significant loss from the TV landscape, as it's been a fixture on that landscape for twenty freakin' years. Heroes is one of those shows where, and it pains me to say this as it was once a favorite of mine, it seems like the network is finally putting it out of it's misery.

Let's start with the good show. L&O, the groundbreaking, cut-from-the-headlines, serial prime-time drama that spawned 4 spin offs (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit; Law and Order: Criminal Intent; the short lived Law and Order: Trial by Jury and the across the pond take Law and Order: UK), as well as influencing every other cut-from-the-headlines, serial prime-time drama. It's the longest running crime drama ever, and tied with Gunsmoke as the longest running prime-time drama ever. It's formula is distinctive: the first half of each episode is devoted to the police investigation of a crime, the second half showing the criminal prosecution of that crime. It was one of the first shows about lawyers to be told from the point of view of the prosecution and not the defence. Because it's not a serial drama and did not focus on the personal lives of the characters it had a revolving door of cast members, most notably Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterston. It stayed current with each season, making gripping television out of real life events. It's theme song is iconic. It was one of a kind in a lot of ways.

I used to watch it fairly regularly when it aired late at night on Bravo, watching the earliest seasons. The stories always managed to suck me in; even if I was only planning on watching the first half I ended up having to see how it played out. For me, the trial was always the most interesting part. The police investigation was cool, but nothing could beat the chess game that took place in the courtroom.

It had to be cancelled sooner or later. And honestly I haven't seen any episodes of the last I-don't-know-how many seasons because after so many years, no matter how good a show is it just can't have the same impact it once did. That's the nature of television. Still, the world of TV will feel a little emptier having L&O off the air. Sure it's spin-offs will still be on, and apparently a new one is in the works as we speak (Law and Order: Los Angeles, the first American L&O to be set outside of New York) but the late, great original will be the one to miss.

Now the flip side, let's talk about Heroes, the show that started off with so much promise and then went downhill so fast you had to wonder if somebody on the show just gave up after the first season. Or if maybe someone was pulling a cruel prank on all of us.

The show introduced us to ordinary people from all over the world who suddenly discover they have super powers. There was a slow build to a great climax in the first season, a lot of drama, a lot of humor and heart, a villain that could haunt your nightmares and a mythology you just knew was deeper than was being shown on screen. The first season spawned a phenomena, and I was hooked from the get go.

Then the second season came along and...it was just okay. I mean the whole time-travel subplot with Hiro didn't make a lot of sense and went on way longer than it should have. That whole wonder-twins thing was just kind of dumb. Sylar survived when he really shouldn't have. There was a gaping hole in Peter's storyline that still bugs the hell out of me (what the heck happened to his Irish girlfriend when she was just left in the future?). It was kind of all over the place, but I held out hope that maybe the show could get back on track. The people behind Heroes even cut the season short and promised us a revamp in the next.

They lied. The third season offered nothing new of note, added more annoying plot lines and characters, made a lot of the regular characters come across as whiny and incompetent and finally turned me off of it entirely.

There were three big reasons that made me decide enough is enough. The first being their abandonment of the "Sylar's redemption" storyline. I'm a sucker for second chances, and Zachary Quinto is such a great actor he could convincingly show character growth for someone as evil as Sylar. But then, all of a sudden, after several episodes of him working so hard to be a good guy and doing pretty well, Sylar decided "Nope, I'm evil again". Well, he didn't say it like that, but that was the gist.

Secondly, the writers set brothers Peter and Nathan on each other. Their relationship was one of the cornerstones of the series, and pitting them against each other so did not fly with me at all. Pun intended, as Nathan could fly.

Lastly, and most importantly, when I'm invested in a series I have to feel that even if I don't know what the hell is going on with the plot, the writers do and they're just waiting for the right time to reveal all to it's loyal audience. I lost that trust with Heroes. It got to the point that I really began to suspect that the writers were just making it up as they go along. That is not only lazy it's insulting to the viewers. And so, with a heavy heart, I checked out of Heroes about midway through the third season. I haven't watched it since, but I suspect that my geeky hopes that the super powered humans would all eventually join forces into something resembling the X-men did not come to pass. Their loss. Ah well, in my mind they're all still the cool people from the first season and that super-hero team has been formed.

So there's one show that, while it may have been on longer than it should have, is still going out on a high note. And one show that showed so much promise at the start, then left a smoking, charred trail of what could have been. It's a sad moment for both of them, but for very different reasons.

The people have spoken! Betty White hosts SNL

Behold the power of Facebook. Thanks to a fan movement on the social networking site, Betty White hosted SNL last night.

Fortunately the move worked in spades. It was an episode to remember, thanks to White's sense of humor and professionalism born out of decades of working in television. Plus the addition of past SNL female comedians Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Mya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch allowed old characters and scenarios to be revisited. A true girl-power evening.

Some highlights: White as MacGruber's grandmother, "Really?!? with Seth, Amy and Tina", and "What I'm most known for is my muffin." Plus the digital short of "Thank You For Being a Friend".

Now if only White could host the Oscars...quick, back to Facebook!

Idol Upset: Can this season be saved?

Siobhan Magnus got kicked off American Idol. I say it again, Siobhan Magnus got kicked off! What the hell? She was one of the most interesting contestants, and she was a great singer. She was an early front-runner for the top two!

This has got to be one of the weirdest seasons of AI ever! Nothing would shock me anymore. Well, at least Crystal, Lee and Casey are still in it. I've always liked Crystal's music, but her whole attitude of "I'm only here for my son" was starting to rub me the wrong way. But when she broke down and cried during one of her last performances she rose several notches in my book. At that moment we finally saw a hint that this actually meant something to her.

Lee has gone so much further than anyone would have predicted. He gets better and more confident each week. And Casey? Ahhh Casey, with his halo of golden hair, his raspy rock growl, his blue eyes...I'm sorry, what was I saying? Mike and Aaron are alright, but nothing about either really stands out to me.

So long Siobhan. Let's hope your quirkiness and big voice will find another platform to shine on.

So, can this season be saved? Sound off.