J: The fall TV season is almost here! What are your top three favorite pilot/series premiere episodes of all time?
Mira:
1. Pushing Daisies: I can still imagine scenes from this pilot, and it's been a couple years since I've watched it. Ned describing bringing his mom back to life, only to accidentally kill her again; running around in a meadow of daisies with his dog (Digby?) and then his dog gets hit by a vehicle and he brings the dog back to life; describing Chuck's crazy mermaid aunts... It was so vibrant and represents the show's quirkiness so perfectly in 40 minutes.
2. Glee: This episode also well represents what made Glee so exciting and fun and great in the beginning! From highlighting all the characters through their audition songs to introducing snarky Sue, gullible Finn, enthusiastic Mr. Schuester... And of course, "Don't Stop Believing." Perfection. :)
3. Alias: This is the only pilot episode of a show that hooked me so much I ended up watching 8 straight episodes in a row. Actually no, Veronica Mars may have hooked me in a similar way. (I watched the entire first season over the span of one weekend.) But I'll still give Alias an edge. I mean the red wig, the Chinese speaking, the excitement of a story told forward and backward -- it was a great pilot!
Jennifer:
1. Friday Night Lights: I hadn't seen the movie, I didn't know anything about Texas, I had no interest in football, but this pilot, especially the second half, just shot me straight through the heart. Love love LOVE.
2. Lost: I ended up having plenty of problems with this show, but one thing I'll give J.J. Abrams is that he definitely knows how to start off a show (perhaps that's why he's had more success in movies lately). There was a lot to set up -- a huge cast of characters, the flashback construct, the mystery/possibly sci-fi style and atmosphere -- and it was hugely successful with all of it. It's been rare that a pilot excited me as much as this one.
3. Roswell: A less obvious choice, perhaps, but don't forget that this show was created and written by Jason Katims who went on to run FNL and Parenthood. All the characters are introduced so well, the use of music is amazing (especially love the first scene in the Crashdown of Max saving Liz with Sarah McLachlan's "Fear" building in the background), and there's a nice balance of romance, humor, action, and suspense. Ah, the old days of the WB...
Showing posts with label Alias. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alias. Show all posts
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Thursday, January 14, 2010
T^2: If you could be...
M: If you could pick a TV show & character whose life you would take (with all the good and bad storylines), whose TV show life would you choose? (Doesn't have to be a main character.)
Mira: After thinking long and hard about this question, and even contemplating changing the question to make it easier, I've decided I would want to be... Well, first here are some characters I considered:
Jennifer: This is a tough question! It took me awhile to decide what about a character's life would make me want to take their life. Job/lifestyle? Boyfriend/husband/family? But then of course TV characters generally have quite a lot of drama/angst/trauma in their lives that I could probably do without...
In the end, though, I came up with two options that are maybe cop-outs because they're both in the sci-fi genre: Liz from Roswell and Jaye from Wonderfalls.
Ok yeah, Liz had a lot of ridiculous drama in her life but somehow I find the alien secret thing and becoming part alien(?!) to be pretty cool. And in the end she's with her soul mate (and if you want to count the post-season 3 book series ending, everything gets "reset" with everyone back in Roswell and the aliens no longer being "hunted").
As for Jaye, I think I more want to actually BE her rather than just take her life. I like her family, I like her one friend, I like her love interest, and I guess I kind of like her approach to life. As stated in one of the episodes, she's created this "stressless, expectation-free zone" around herself. Of course getting talked to by animal figurines and getting involved in all sorts of crazy hijinks is also kind of ridiculous but she kind of makes it seem fun...
Mira: After thinking long and hard about this question, and even contemplating changing the question to make it easier, I've decided I would want to be... Well, first here are some characters I considered:
- Buffy from BtVS (too much dealing with yucky bad guys for my taste)
- Rory Gilmore from GG (too annoying, plus her sleeping with Dean storyline still pisses me off); Joey Potter from DC (also annoyingly perfect and kinda boring)
- Sydney from Alias (exciting and cool life but she woke up to Vaughn married to the annoying lady!)
- Veronica Mars from VM (too much angst, if only she stayed with Logan...)
- Casey from Greek or Lizzie McGuire from LM (this was tempting and fun-sounding, but kinda superficial)
- Pam from The Office (just to be part of PB&J, but then she works with crazy people)
Jennifer: This is a tough question! It took me awhile to decide what about a character's life would make me want to take their life. Job/lifestyle? Boyfriend/husband/family? But then of course TV characters generally have quite a lot of drama/angst/trauma in their lives that I could probably do without...
In the end, though, I came up with two options that are maybe cop-outs because they're both in the sci-fi genre: Liz from Roswell and Jaye from Wonderfalls.
Ok yeah, Liz had a lot of ridiculous drama in her life but somehow I find the alien secret thing and becoming part alien(?!) to be pretty cool. And in the end she's with her soul mate (and if you want to count the post-season 3 book series ending, everything gets "reset" with everyone back in Roswell and the aliens no longer being "hunted").
As for Jaye, I think I more want to actually BE her rather than just take her life. I like her family, I like her one friend, I like her love interest, and I guess I kind of like her approach to life. As stated in one of the episodes, she's created this "stressless, expectation-free zone" around herself. Of course getting talked to by animal figurines and getting involved in all sorts of crazy hijinks is also kind of ridiculous but she kind of makes it seem fun...
Monday, June 05, 2006
Season wrap-ups Part 2
Veronica Mars: Don't want to give away too much as Mira has yet to watch this season, but this is a tough one for me to sum up. The first season was one of the most brilliant things I've watched on TV in awhile but I think this season they became a little too ambitious. Still better than most of what's on TV but this year's mystery suffered by being too complicated and by being wrapped up too quickly. There's still stuff that I don't understand, and I'm waiting for the DVD to come out so I can re-evalute everything. But tons of good stuff this season. Lots more Mac. Tons of wonderful Keith-Veronica moments. Weevil and Logan working together. Dick = comic genius. Duncan leaving. Logan and Veronica dancing. Veronica's graduation dream. Aaron Echolls finally getting his. "I thought our story was epic." !!!! Next season is reportedly going to be structured a bit differently, with three sections/mysteries to the season, which I think will help viewers keep up better.
Alias: A fittingly uneven end to an uneven series. I loved Alias when it first premiered: it was different and fun and it had a great premise with the whole double agent thing. And while I agree that something did have to happen with SD-6 in order to move the story along, I feel like things really did start to go downhill when SD-6 was destroyed, and then the Rambaldi nonsense just took over and the rest is history. I mean, there was definitely a lot of good stuff, especially in the first two seasons. All the intrigue with Irina in second season was excellent and the development of the Jack/Sydney relationship is still a highlight. Lots of great supporting players with Marshall and Dixon and Nadia and Anna Espinosa and Sark and even Rachel and Tom this final season.
But there were just too many horrible things. The 3 year time jump and Vaughn's terrible wife (most hated character ever). The Francinator. The stupid big red ball and the zombies. The Allliance. Prophet 5. And Sloane. Ugh Sloane. The number of times he flip-flopped between being evil and being evil but claiming to be good makes my head hurt. And over time, Sydney just became less sympathetic. She started out as this tough ass-kicking chick who also has a big secret and a lot of parental issues and angst, but great supportive friends and co-workers. But when some of those elements went away, she became cold and robotic, maybe with good reason, but it just didn't help the show very much.
That said, the finale had its moments. Liked the flashbacks. Liked that Sark escaped, because that's just what he does. Liked that Syd and Vaughn ended up happy together. Liked that Carrie made an appearance and that Marshall ends up having 4 kids. Liked that Sloane ended up buried alive for eternity. LOVED that Jack put him there as his last act. Was disappointed that Irina was involved and pretty much evil after all, and that Tom died in the subway just as I was starting to hope he and Rachel could be the next Syd and Vaughn. But let's just leave it at that. I'm glad it went out when it did because any more would have just been adding salt to the wound...
24: Maybe I didn't quite pay enough attention this season but I'm still pretty confused about what was going on and what everyone's motivations were. I'm really fuzzy on what Logan's plan really was and who Dr. Romano's little group was supposed to be and what they wanted and what Bierko wanted and what Christopher Henderson wanted...it was all just a bit too much. But unlike Alias and Lost, the plot intricacies don't hold the show back from being just completely kick-ass. Jack Bauer is definitely going to go down as one of the most distinctive TV characters of all time, especially as he gets more and more ruthless as the seasons go by. Glad to see Audrey back to soften him up though as she's definitely my favorite among Jack's many doomed loves. Chloe was also even more awesome this season, loved all the snark and the tasering and (sob) Edgar. (And what was up with her ex-husband??) Bill Buchanan, best CTU boss EVER! Also glad that Karen Hayes wised up and saw what was going on. And I loved the ending because come on, we were all waiting for the Chinese to resurface.
But ultimately this season was all about President Logan, and man, what a twist. The weak and incompetent man we hated from last season is suddenly the archvillain, but through it all he somehow still manages to be weak and incompetent. And gotta love Martha Logan, and her little smirk to her husband at the end of the season. Completely awesome that the one person with the power to bring down the President started off the season completely loopy. Was also glad to see that Aaron Pierce and Mike Novick weren't fooled either (and that they didn't die).
It's funny, 24 is definitely an action show first and foremost, but no matter how crazy and ridiculous things get, I still love it. Lots of my co-workers and other people I know have recently gotten into the show, which is awesome. I'm proud to say I've watched it from the beginning though!
Alias: A fittingly uneven end to an uneven series. I loved Alias when it first premiered: it was different and fun and it had a great premise with the whole double agent thing. And while I agree that something did have to happen with SD-6 in order to move the story along, I feel like things really did start to go downhill when SD-6 was destroyed, and then the Rambaldi nonsense just took over and the rest is history. I mean, there was definitely a lot of good stuff, especially in the first two seasons. All the intrigue with Irina in second season was excellent and the development of the Jack/Sydney relationship is still a highlight. Lots of great supporting players with Marshall and Dixon and Nadia and Anna Espinosa and Sark and even Rachel and Tom this final season.
But there were just too many horrible things. The 3 year time jump and Vaughn's terrible wife (most hated character ever). The Francinator. The stupid big red ball and the zombies. The Allliance. Prophet 5. And Sloane. Ugh Sloane. The number of times he flip-flopped between being evil and being evil but claiming to be good makes my head hurt. And over time, Sydney just became less sympathetic. She started out as this tough ass-kicking chick who also has a big secret and a lot of parental issues and angst, but great supportive friends and co-workers. But when some of those elements went away, she became cold and robotic, maybe with good reason, but it just didn't help the show very much.
That said, the finale had its moments. Liked the flashbacks. Liked that Sark escaped, because that's just what he does. Liked that Syd and Vaughn ended up happy together. Liked that Carrie made an appearance and that Marshall ends up having 4 kids. Liked that Sloane ended up buried alive for eternity. LOVED that Jack put him there as his last act. Was disappointed that Irina was involved and pretty much evil after all, and that Tom died in the subway just as I was starting to hope he and Rachel could be the next Syd and Vaughn. But let's just leave it at that. I'm glad it went out when it did because any more would have just been adding salt to the wound...
24: Maybe I didn't quite pay enough attention this season but I'm still pretty confused about what was going on and what everyone's motivations were. I'm really fuzzy on what Logan's plan really was and who Dr. Romano's little group was supposed to be and what they wanted and what Bierko wanted and what Christopher Henderson wanted...it was all just a bit too much. But unlike Alias and Lost, the plot intricacies don't hold the show back from being just completely kick-ass. Jack Bauer is definitely going to go down as one of the most distinctive TV characters of all time, especially as he gets more and more ruthless as the seasons go by. Glad to see Audrey back to soften him up though as she's definitely my favorite among Jack's many doomed loves. Chloe was also even more awesome this season, loved all the snark and the tasering and (sob) Edgar. (And what was up with her ex-husband??) Bill Buchanan, best CTU boss EVER! Also glad that Karen Hayes wised up and saw what was going on. And I loved the ending because come on, we were all waiting for the Chinese to resurface.
But ultimately this season was all about President Logan, and man, what a twist. The weak and incompetent man we hated from last season is suddenly the archvillain, but through it all he somehow still manages to be weak and incompetent. And gotta love Martha Logan, and her little smirk to her husband at the end of the season. Completely awesome that the one person with the power to bring down the President started off the season completely loopy. Was also glad to see that Aaron Pierce and Mike Novick weren't fooled either (and that they didn't die).
It's funny, 24 is definitely an action show first and foremost, but no matter how crazy and ridiculous things get, I still love it. Lots of my co-workers and other people I know have recently gotten into the show, which is awesome. I'm proud to say I've watched it from the beginning though!
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