okay, 2007-2008 was the "Year of the WGA Strike, the Year That Wasn't"
which directly caused such writers'-room abortions like "Bionic Woman" (sorry to harp on that one so much but it was hyped endlessly as "a major new tentpole show brought to you by the people that made BSG!" and the pilot itself stand and the regular series got worse with each passing episode.
2008-2009 is rapidly shaping up to be the "Year of the Drunken Hangover from the WGA Strike"
(plus, the SAG is threatening to strike, so 2009-2010 might be another Missing Year...)
anyways, the only "surviving" new shows from last year that I thought were any good were Pushing Daises and Terminator
oh, Reaper wasn't that bad, but it didn't grab me and I think its on the cancellation bubble? And unlike some of you, I personally hated "Chuck", and they're resorting to gimmicky guest-stars. Either way, it's "newness" is already fading away, and that's most of what it had going for it.
Otherwise, most shows had a bad season from the WGA strike, mirroring TNG season 2 -- Heroes Season 2 and BSG season 3 were very bad. But while BSG season 4 bounced back to (relatively) what it used to be like, Heroes season 3 is officially "strugglign to recapture the first season"
I think the key was, ironically, that Bryan Fuller left for Pushing Daises, and now that it has met its demise, he will be returning to it.
"Lost" has apparently been getting better in past seasons than the season 2-3 drop, but to be honest I didn't get to watch beyond halfway in the middle of season 1 (I got sidetracked then fell too far behind to catch up quickly)
"Jericho" is now gone, "Lost" is winding down its last 2 seasons, and "BSG" is about to start its final half-season (it is NOT season 5, it was supposed to be the second half of season 4)
"Fringe", which sounded like a crappy X-Files/Lost ripoff of sorts, is actually, while certainly still in the *subgenre* of "FBI agent investigating evil super-science conspiracies", is I must admit actually quite interesting and I enjoy watching it. I haven't "fallen in love with it"; it's not the next instant mega-hit like Heroes or BSG, and while it has rought patches it was generally well executed and I hope they refine it. so at least there's some good news there.
Stargate: Atlantis, has of course, been cancelled to make way for Stargate: 90210 (aka Stargate:Universe)
"Clone Wars" is of course, garbage, with the only actually interesting episodes being those focusing on NON-primary characters (the Clone Troopers episode 5)
Meanwhile, all of the Christmas movies (Star Trek, Harry Potter) got pushed back because of the WGA strike (which affected TV immediately, but we're seeing the afteraffects now in Fall-Christmas) so there isn't too much out this christmas, certainly no franchises, and I'm kind of too old to get into "Twilight", but hey, I'm happy those fans are having a measure of success in what was otherwise a dryspell.
So my *personal* scifi TV list is this:
Old or finished series I wasn't able to watch, which therefore, I can wait until summer to marathon on DVD:
Current or onging series I need to watch relatively soon over Christmas break in order to catch up:
Meanwhile, BSG prequel series "Caprica" sounds godawful, Ron Moore isn't attached beyond the pilot, the trailers look idiotic, and in short, it looks like a Voyager-esque attempt to cash in on the franchise. Scifi was so unsure of what they were getting back from production, that for a long time they kept hemming and hawing about whether to even make it, before realizing *they have nothing else*
Further, I never liked Atlantis; the first season was okay as first seasons go but then utterly failed of its promise in season 2 by putting them in regular contact with Earth then sort of just "mellowing out" for 2 years. Perpetually in the shadow of "older brother" SG-1, only got moderately good in season 4 when attention was focused on it again (remember when this was the "darker" Stargate series? ha!) but it really only got enjoyable in season 5, just as it was about to end. Thus, a respectable run, but not great at all. But even if you liked Atlantis (and I must admit, they at least got a rhythm down in season 5), "Universe" sounds terrible but you know they'll make 7 seasons of it because Skiffy has nothing else.
"Venture Bros season 3" was great, but it will be some time before season 4. I really hope its not the last.
Meanwhile "Avatar: the Last Airbender" just ended.....a great ending, but the show's over now. Nickelodeon said that the franchise was so successful for them, and fan demand is so high, that for once they're really on our side and they want to make another "thing" in the franchise (MMORPG? Sequel series? we dunno and neither do they yet) but at least it's shifting over to the live-action movie adaptation.
At the least, summer 2009 looks WONDERFUL. I'm finally over that "year of the studio-churned-out Threequels" in summer 2007. this summer we've got Terminator 4 (which I'm really starting to look forward to) and another Harry Potter (always a good standby)....and of course....*Star Trek*. If nothing else, Abrams looks like he can at least do a competent job, and he actually knows what I feel: we need the "optimism for the future" that Star Trek brings. and the trailers look like, if nothing else, it will be *new* and not just a tired retread of old ideas like we had in the 1997-2005 era.
Well, either way, next spring ON TV will be domianted by BSG, Lost, and Dollhouse
I seriously think Dollhouse isn't long for this world, and by summer, *Battlestar Galactical will effectively be over for me* and I'll want to move on to something else instead of obsessing over the past (I think BSG was very much a product of the Bush Years in which TV was too afraid to do political commentary; there was something about watching the Pegasus Trilogy in mid-2005 pre-Katrina (when confidence in Bush was finally shattered for the mainstream) that simply cannot be matched rewatching it today by marathoning a DVD.
Sorry to talk so long, but I've been in a fog of work since September and wasn't able to keep up with TV,
Long story short: over Christmas break I need to watch Fringe season 1, Heroes season 3, Terminator seasons 1 and 2, and Code Geass episodes 1-30, and while I'm at it, marathoning all of 30 Rock from the beginning because I've only seen like 5 episodes
I realize I was busy with work, but this whole Fall season felt like it was just "waiting with hushed breath" for something else....possibly because yes, everyone says its just a sophmore slump left over from the WGA strike stunting everything and we're still in "hangover" mode, and of course, that we were all talking about nothing but the Presidential election on TV until just a month ago. That kind of took attention away from things. And at the end of the tunnel, there were no big Christmas releases at the movies.
movies I'm looking forwards to include Coraline (February) which may indeed become the next Nightmare Before Christmas, and, of course, WATCHMEN in March.
May brings us *the return of the X-Men movieverse* (PRAY they don't frak it up like they did X-Men 3) with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, then Star Trek, then Terminator 4, in raipd succession
June brings us Transformers 2 (I hated the first, but maybe with the "exposition" junk out fo the way they can make an actual "Transformers movie")
July brings Harry Potter 6
and in August, can you say "Live Action GI Joe movie?!"
Meanwhile, Adult Swim is expanding to 10 PM but they're getting King of the Hill and the PJs 9which I never liked) and no new scifi anime or anything. some suspect they're simply going to let Code Geass run out then abandon anime altogether in May.
which directly caused such writers'-room abortions like "Bionic Woman" (sorry to harp on that one so much but it was hyped endlessly as "a major new tentpole show brought to you by the people that made BSG!" and the pilot itself stand and the regular series got worse with each passing episode.
2008-2009 is rapidly shaping up to be the "Year of the Drunken Hangover from the WGA Strike"
(plus, the SAG is threatening to strike, so 2009-2010 might be another Missing Year...)
anyways, the only "surviving" new shows from last year that I thought were any good were Pushing Daises and Terminator
oh, Reaper wasn't that bad, but it didn't grab me and I think its on the cancellation bubble? And unlike some of you, I personally hated "Chuck", and they're resorting to gimmicky guest-stars. Either way, it's "newness" is already fading away, and that's most of what it had going for it.
Otherwise, most shows had a bad season from the WGA strike, mirroring TNG season 2 -- Heroes Season 2 and BSG season 3 were very bad. But while BSG season 4 bounced back to (relatively) what it used to be like, Heroes season 3 is officially "strugglign to recapture the first season"
I think the key was, ironically, that Bryan Fuller left for Pushing Daises, and now that it has met its demise, he will be returning to it.
"Lost" has apparently been getting better in past seasons than the season 2-3 drop, but to be honest I didn't get to watch beyond halfway in the middle of season 1 (I got sidetracked then fell too far behind to catch up quickly)
"Jericho" is now gone, "Lost" is winding down its last 2 seasons, and "BSG" is about to start its final half-season (it is NOT season 5, it was supposed to be the second half of season 4)
"Fringe", which sounded like a crappy X-Files/Lost ripoff of sorts, is actually, while certainly still in the *subgenre* of "FBI agent investigating evil super-science conspiracies", is I must admit actually quite interesting and I enjoy watching it. I haven't "fallen in love with it"; it's not the next instant mega-hit like Heroes or BSG, and while it has rought patches it was generally well executed and I hope they refine it. so at least there's some good news there.
Stargate: Atlantis, has of course, been cancelled to make way for Stargate: 90210 (aka Stargate:Universe)
"Clone Wars" is of course, garbage, with the only actually interesting episodes being those focusing on NON-primary characters (the Clone Troopers episode 5)
Meanwhile, all of the Christmas movies (Star Trek, Harry Potter) got pushed back because of the WGA strike (which affected TV immediately, but we're seeing the afteraffects now in Fall-Christmas) so there isn't too much out this christmas, certainly no franchises, and I'm kind of too old to get into "Twilight", but hey, I'm happy those fans are having a measure of success in what was otherwise a dryspell.
So my *personal* scifi TV list is this:
Old or finished series I wasn't able to watch, which therefore, I can wait until summer to marathon on DVD:
- Lost (I'm so far behind I'll have to wait until summer)
- Jericho
- Pushing Daises seasosn 1 & 2 (I loved season 1 but forgot stuff and I've missed alot of episodes including all of season 2)
- Death Note (I missed alot of episodes so I want to rewatch all the way from the beginning)
Current or onging series I need to watch relatively soon over Christmas break in order to catch up:
- Fringe (I missed a few episodes)
- Heroes season 3 (been too busy to watch)
- Terminator seasons 1 and 2 (saw the pilot episode, loved it, but was very busy)
- Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (very good anime, but missed so many episodes from season 1 I need to marathon to catch up to season 2, which this month began airing on Adult Swim)
- Battlestar Galactica: the final 10 episodes, plus "The Plan" Cylon TV movie
- "Dollhouse" -- if it actually airs
Meanwhile, BSG prequel series "Caprica" sounds godawful, Ron Moore isn't attached beyond the pilot, the trailers look idiotic, and in short, it looks like a Voyager-esque attempt to cash in on the franchise. Scifi was so unsure of what they were getting back from production, that for a long time they kept hemming and hawing about whether to even make it, before realizing *they have nothing else*
Further, I never liked Atlantis; the first season was okay as first seasons go but then utterly failed of its promise in season 2 by putting them in regular contact with Earth then sort of just "mellowing out" for 2 years. Perpetually in the shadow of "older brother" SG-1, only got moderately good in season 4 when attention was focused on it again (remember when this was the "darker" Stargate series? ha!) but it really only got enjoyable in season 5, just as it was about to end. Thus, a respectable run, but not great at all. But even if you liked Atlantis (and I must admit, they at least got a rhythm down in season 5), "Universe" sounds terrible but you know they'll make 7 seasons of it because Skiffy has nothing else.
"Venture Bros season 3" was great, but it will be some time before season 4. I really hope its not the last.
Meanwhile "Avatar: the Last Airbender" just ended.....a great ending, but the show's over now. Nickelodeon said that the franchise was so successful for them, and fan demand is so high, that for once they're really on our side and they want to make another "thing" in the franchise (MMORPG? Sequel series? we dunno and neither do they yet) but at least it's shifting over to the live-action movie adaptation.
At the least, summer 2009 looks WONDERFUL. I'm finally over that "year of the studio-churned-out Threequels" in summer 2007. this summer we've got Terminator 4 (which I'm really starting to look forward to) and another Harry Potter (always a good standby)....and of course....*Star Trek*. If nothing else, Abrams looks like he can at least do a competent job, and he actually knows what I feel: we need the "optimism for the future" that Star Trek brings. and the trailers look like, if nothing else, it will be *new* and not just a tired retread of old ideas like we had in the 1997-2005 era.
Well, either way, next spring ON TV will be domianted by BSG, Lost, and Dollhouse
I seriously think Dollhouse isn't long for this world, and by summer, *Battlestar Galactical will effectively be over for me* and I'll want to move on to something else instead of obsessing over the past (I think BSG was very much a product of the Bush Years in which TV was too afraid to do political commentary; there was something about watching the Pegasus Trilogy in mid-2005 pre-Katrina (when confidence in Bush was finally shattered for the mainstream) that simply cannot be matched rewatching it today by marathoning a DVD.
Sorry to talk so long, but I've been in a fog of work since September and wasn't able to keep up with TV,
Long story short: over Christmas break I need to watch Fringe season 1, Heroes season 3, Terminator seasons 1 and 2, and Code Geass episodes 1-30, and while I'm at it, marathoning all of 30 Rock from the beginning because I've only seen like 5 episodes
I realize I was busy with work, but this whole Fall season felt like it was just "waiting with hushed breath" for something else....possibly because yes, everyone says its just a sophmore slump left over from the WGA strike stunting everything and we're still in "hangover" mode, and of course, that we were all talking about nothing but the Presidential election on TV until just a month ago. That kind of took attention away from things. And at the end of the tunnel, there were no big Christmas releases at the movies.
movies I'm looking forwards to include Coraline (February) which may indeed become the next Nightmare Before Christmas, and, of course, WATCHMEN in March.
May brings us *the return of the X-Men movieverse* (PRAY they don't frak it up like they did X-Men 3) with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, then Star Trek, then Terminator 4, in raipd succession
June brings us Transformers 2 (I hated the first, but maybe with the "exposition" junk out fo the way they can make an actual "Transformers movie")
July brings Harry Potter 6
and in August, can you say "Live Action GI Joe movie?!"
Meanwhile, Adult Swim is expanding to 10 PM but they're getting King of the Hill and the PJs 9which I never liked) and no new scifi anime or anything. some suspect they're simply going to let Code Geass run out then abandon anime altogether in May.
. 
