Tag Archives: CW

What I am Watching

Posted on by renmiked

I have decided to cut back most of my TV watching this fall season.  I just do not have enough time to keep up with the mediocrity that networks are pumping out these days.  From Lost rip-offs to medical dramas there is so much garbage on right now, that it was incredibly easy to pare it down.

I started this process last year.  This year I decided to go all out, and eliminate anything with more than a twenty episode season from my viewing schedule.  I do have two hold-overs with long seasons, Glee and Supernatural, that I have already been watching so I will continue even though they are long seasons.  I have concerns for Glee, since they are planning to do a 25 episode season.  There is no way to keep up quality with that length of a season.  I haven’t actually started Supernatural this season yet, and still have the finale from last season to watch, but I do plan on watching it eventually.

I did watch the first season of Fringe during the summer but, I really did not have the desire to watch another 23 episode season and commit to a long season this fall as well.  Another show I picked up over the summer was Eureka, and it has been added to my TiVo season passes.  I’m not sure when it comes back on, but I like that it is a lighter show and is only around 15 episodes on average.  Also it is not overwrought  with an intense overly complicated mystery that drowns out the characters and fun.  Basically, I can accept a lighter show having a slightly longer season, 15 – 20 episodes, but serialized dramas with an intense mystery need to be shorter.

I am looking forward to The Walking Dead in a few weeks, I really hope it lives up to the expectations.  The bar is going to be set very high for a show that is on the same network as Mad Men and Breaking Bad.  AMC has definitely done it the correct way, by giving us shows that concentrate on characters and story, not an event or mystery.  I tried watching the first episode of Rubicon but it was far too slow and uninteresting, so that may be the exception.  Mad Men on the other hand, had its best season to date.  The characters, except Betty, are compelling and complex, making the show a pleasure to watch.

The big four networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) have no concept of how to produce shows with great characters anymore.  There is not one thing on those networks that spark my interest at all.  There may be a show or two that I am missing but I doubt it.  I’m not a huge fan of the network comedies either but they are not as bad as the horrible dramas they put out.  I’m not sure if these networks will survive to the next generation.  The only shows getting serious ratings are watched by older people.  Shows like Two and a Half Men, The CSI‘s and the Law and Orders have ratings, but I’ve  never met anyone under 50 who watches any of those shows.  What are they going to do to appeal to an audience that wants quality and won’t tune in just because it’s on a major network?

I’m not going to rant about the networks any more, they are digging their own graves without any help.  Let me just run off a few other shows I am watching or will be watching once they come back.

Terriers I believe it’s on FX and is a great and gritty detective show

American Pickers is on History Channel and a definite to check out if you like Antiques Roadshow or Pawn Stars

American Chopper the show is much better than it has been in the past two season, a guilty pleasure.

LA Ink 100% guilty pleasure, I’ll put it on in the background or buzz through it

Eureka this show is probably nearing the end of its run but I suggest picking it up from the beginning

Comic Con 2010…Holy Crap part 2

Posted on by renmiked

Friday

Friday started off far too early after the the night before, but I had a plan for panels to execute starting with Hawaii Five-O.  Overall I thought the show looked decent and I may give it a shot but its not a must see in my opinion.  Daniel Dae Kim answered a few Lost related questions, which gave some insight into what he thought of the finale amongst other things. I stayed in the room for the next panel, which was AMC’s The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead panel started off with zombies roaming the floor.  The make-up was absolutely incredibly.  I was within a foot of the zombies and between staying in character and the costuming, you felt like a zombie apocalypse was on the horizon.  I had never read The Walking Dead before the panel but the show looked terrific and up to the lofty standards AMC has set for itself.  Its been two weeks now, so I am forgetting the details but I’ll try and hit the things that really stick out to me.

My next panel was going to be for Fable III, so I went and lined up by the room with about a hundred other people only to find out that it was canceled at the last minute.  I think after this I ended up wandering the exhibit floor for a while and then meeting up with a few people for some beverages and a salad at The Field, an Irish Pub in the Gaslamp District.  There was a nice selection or beers and I had a very good caesar salad, which hit the spot after a long morning of not eating.  Next up was the Jay and Jack meet up at Tivoli.

After having a few at The Field we wandered over the Tivoli’s for the Jay and Jack meet up.  This was an absolute blast.  Some people were a little intoxicated, as you may have seen from the videos and photos, but I won’t name any names.  Meeting up with people was definitely the highlight for me.  It was just a good time with no BS and no drama.  It truly is a group of people who are genuine and fun.  Needless to say the night ended late and Saturday morning rolled around early, too early for some of us.

On Saturday I slept in a bit and had to ship a few things home before heading to the con.  The first thing I went to was the Jay and Jack panel with Ryan and Jen from The Transmission.  It was nice to get some finale talk in during the trip.  I didn’t get to discuss it much with people, and I enjoyed hearing others thoughts on the series as a whole as well as the finale itself.  The room had a pretty low ceiling but I think Jay and Jack requested that so they would look taller.  After the panel I met up with Josh and Jen of The Gleeful Podcast / Idle Review Podcast and headed to the convention center to check out some panels.

I ended up going to the room where the Mythbusters panel would be later that evening and just stayed there through four other panels.  I was glad I did this because each of the other panels (and one pilot) that i saw were very fun and interesting.  First was Eureka from SyFy, which I’ve always meant to watch but never did.  They split a double session with Warehouse 13, also of SyFy. The casts were very engaging and you could feel the camaraderie and appreciation they have for each other.  Next we moved up before Nikita from CW, this proved to be slightly dangerous, for me.

While moving up I was caught in a row that did not have the ammount of seats we needed but, the row in front of me did.  So I decided to “hop” over the chairs to the row in front.  Im glad I have a son already because I don’t know if it would be possible after my chair adventure.  Anyway, Nikita was surprisingly good.  They showed the whole pilot before the panel and I will probably check it out in the fall.  After Nikita was Human Target, which was also a fun panel but not a show I would ever watch.  The main event was up next and that was The Mythbusters.

The entire crew was on the panel, Tory, Grant, Adam, Jamie and of course Kari.  Chris Hardwick conducted the panel and was efficient and hilarious.  There was great video of the many explosions as well as a sneak peak into next season.  The rooom was teeming with energy for these guys andthey absolutely delivered. I would absolutely suggest you find video of their panel and watch it.  You may not get the experience of being in the room but its well worth it.

My night ended at The Yard House, which I got lost walking to.  I ended up six city blocks from where I was supposed to be, but eventually I did make it.  This was the Media Junkyard / SHOE / 10th Wonder meet up and was also my last event of Comic Con.  Yards of beer and a confessional cam make for a fun evening.  Three ladies in particular dominated the camera corner and made for some of the funnest moments of the trip.  I ended up taking a petty cab back to the hotel ,after The Yard House closed, where I ended up staying awake until about 4am, even though I had to be up at 630am to go to the airport.  It ended up being four of the most enjoyable days I can recall.

I would like to thank all the great people I met or re-met, you really made this experience memorable.

2009 The Ridiculous…

Posted on by renmiked

Here are a few things I found ridiculous and embarrassing during this year.

The Jon and Kate Obsession:

Really, were these folks important enough to be reported on by legitimate news organizations?  They had a bunch of kids, so what?  Also, to expect a couple of people from central PA to be media savvy enough to deal with the paparazzo coverage and the gossip sites is just silly.  Yes they came off poorly but that this story captivated so many is sad.

Tea Baggers… err I mean Partiers

There will always be people who inherently do not trust government, and no matter who is in power they will argue for less government.  That however seems to be only a fraction of these folks.  The vial racism that is displayed and not addressed by the politicians that attend these rallies is the most disturbing part to me.  I can understand the lies that people like Palin, Beck and Armey throw out there, they just want to rile people up for their own gain.  That is part of the system no matter how seedy it may be.  I know there is know way to reason with this group, I just hope you don’t see anyone take their vitriol to the next level.

NBC and Jay Leno

Has it ever been more apparent that a company was looking to strip costs in order to be sold?  They gave up the entire week at 10pm in order to save cash and ultimately be bought up by Comcast.  What comes from the Comcast deal who knows, but I don’t hold out high hopes.  I assume their best hopes for the Leno move were that a group of viewers who do not want to stay up late would tune in to see Jay at ten but that doesn’t seem to have materialized.

Twilight

I saw the first movie with my wife and it was like watching a mediocre CW show on the big screen.  Pathetic.

Roman Polanski Supporters

Plain and simple anyone who supported or signed a petition in support of this child rapist is a piece of shit.

The Beatification of Teddy Kennedy

Great, he was in The Senate forever.  I just don’t get how you make up for being responsible for someone’s death and NEVER paying the price.  Note: Not being able to rune for President is not paying a price.

That’s a few of the things that rubbed me the wrong way this year.

up next: Things that inspired me in 2009