Reason #153 Why Supernatural Rocks

Last season there was an episode of Supernatural called "Skin", in which a shapeshifter kills a bunch of people, narrowly escapes police capture after one murder attempt, and is killed by the Winchester boys. The police are left to believe that the perpetrator of the murders is dead, which is true. The problem is that the shapeshiter looks exactly like dean when he is seen by the police and when he is eventually dispatched by our heroes. At the time I thought it was a great episode (evil or not, I am never going to argue with getting twice the Jensen Ackles), and thought it would be awesome if Dean's apparent death, as well as the belief that he was a murderer, had consequences later on. However, I did not expect there to be any consequences, and was not upset by that. Shows like Supernatural never go back to deal with these things. Even Joss Whedon shows let stuff like that slide on occassion, and Whedonverse shows have some of the best continuity in the history of television. Maybe Veronica Mars, a show where almost everything that happens has significance later, would bring this development up again, but there was little chance that would happen on Supernatural, a show that is basically about pretty boys with guns and demons.

Color me surprised when Dean's status as deceased murder suspect got name-checked later in the first season. I was even more surprised this season when everything from the petty crimes they commit on a regular basis to Dean's supposed murders (and the fact that he is not dead) got Sam and Dean arrested. This last episode, "Night Shifter", blew me away though. Not only was it typically good, but we learned that the brothers Winchester now have the feds on their tail, which makes complete sense, since not only are they wanted for all sorts of things like impersonating federal agents and murder, but they also have now escaped police custody and crossed state lines. Not only are the Feds after them, but they know all sorts of stuff about their family history, and think John Winchester was some sort of militant nut, which, and I probably don't even have to say this, also makes perfect sense.

You'll pardon me if I seem overly excited about all this, but I watch a lot of genre shows, and I watch a lot of shows on the CW, and logic so rarely enters into how the world reacts to the actions of the characters on the show. Take Smallville for example, a show where the good guys are regularly breaking into buildings, engaging in some mighty illegal hacking, blowing up buildings, and just generally using their superpowers in front of random people and no one ever notices and none of the characters ever get in trouble. That's why consequences is reason #153 why Supernatural rocks. If you are curious about the other 152 reasonse, I'll just tell you that they include such things as the Impala, the classic rock soundtrack, Robert Johnson, all the very cool pop culture references, and various details about Jensen Ackles and Jared Padelecki's overrall prettines.

Some Actual Praise for Smallville

This is my first Smallville related post of the 2006 - 2007 television season. After last season and my numerous posts regarding the show, one may have wondered what happened. Did the show stop sucking? Did Scout finally decide to stop punishing herself with television shows that literally cause her pain? Has Scout finally decided that if she can't say anything nice, she shouldn't say anything at all? The answer to all those questions is, not remotely. (Especially that last one. What would be the point of maintaining this blog if I thought that?) Quite simply, I stopped caring. Lois Lane decided to become a journalist because of a barn door? Fine. Green Arrow had some crazy thugs kidnap Lex Luthor? Sure. Lex wants to marry Lana even though she told him she still loved Clark? I wouldn't expect anything different from this show. Jimmy Olsen is having sex with Chloe and there's whip cream involved? OK, that one's still kind of gross. The point is, I've reached a Zen-like state when it comes to this show's levels of bad. But last week's episode was good, and that shocked me.

Justice was, first and foremost, a lot of fun. I can't remember the last time I felt like Smallville was actually a show about a superhero. I guess it's just too bad that all the superheroes were guest stars who aren't sticking around. I wasn't so sure about Green Arrow when he first started this season, but he's really grown on me. Justin Hartley is charismatic and pretty and talented and I look forward to seeing a lot more of him on my television in the future. Then there was Bart, aka Impulse, who is fantastic. I loved him when he first showed up in season four's Run, and I loved him even more this time. Kyle Gallner, the actor who portrays Bart, has made guest appearances on roughly half the shows I watch this season and he deserves all the work. My biggest fear about this episode was that whenever I saw Bart, who was so adorable the first time around, I would only be able to think about Beaver Casablancas and how he blew up a bus and raped Veronica Mars. Not only did he make me forget all about that other role, with all the flirting he threw Chloe's way, I wasn't worried her at all. Cyborg and Aquaman were back too, though their parts were smaller. It was nice to see that Cyborg was more like his comic book self this time around and less like the Bionic Man. Aquaman's lines were blessedly minimal and mostly served to bring the gay, which is always fun (and given his last appearance on the show, that is his greatest superpower). Not that the show's only gay moments came from the fishy one and his naked swimming. The Sparks were in full display between Clark and Oliver and Clark and Bart as well.

More important than all the homoerotic subtext (and that is always enjoyable), this episode was fun because it was fast paced, and while there were no fight scenes, plenty of stuff happened. There was a lot of running for one thing, and of course, there were arrows. There was also Lex acting like a badass. Being free of the horrid pink parasite (Lana was blessedly absent for the entire episode) had a wonderful effect on his inner bad guy. Michael Rosenbaum plays evil deliciously well. His readings on lines like "And I want a ponytail. Disappointment abounds," are impeccable, and he has the perfect villain's swagger. When Lex is like this, Rosenbaum is totally bringing the sexy back. His speech to Lionel about torturing meteor freaks for truth and democracy was everything I have always wanted from Smallville's version of the character. John Glover too deserves kudos for his small but memorable appearance in this episode. Lionel's impromptu alibi for Clark, about Martha's pot roast and new potatoes, was priceless. I have to say too, because I always adore her, that I loved Chloe in this episode and I thought she was worked in rather nicely without her importance diminishing any of the superheroes. She got to be all cool and sassy too.

The only parts of this episode I didn't enjoy were the Oliver and Lois scenes. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with them, per se. As a matter of fact, I found Lois infinitely more tolerable than I usually do (the storyline with Oliver Queen/Justin Hartley really brought out the best in the character and the actress). It's just that those scenes really dragged in what was otherwise a fast and fun episode. The melodrama didn't seem to fit. I also had a bit of trouble buying into all there talk of love and regret. The Oliver Queen of the comics is an infamous ladies man, complete with illegitimate children (which made the whole no sex thing more than a bit ridiculous for me), but mostly, too much of the relationship was developed off screen for me to care.

My overriding feeling when coming out of this episode though was to wonder why it couldn't be like this all the time. Why must I sit through all the soap opera melodrama when I could be watching daring rescues and things exploding? I completely geeked out watching this proto-Justice League doing their slow-mo hero walk away from the explosion. (OK, and I also got a little distracted by how pretty Tom Welling is.) I want to geek out like that all the time. Heroes is a great show, my current favorite, but it doesn't have any of the comic book characters I love and there's not a costume in sight. Are costumes heroes and villains too much to ask for? If I can't have a Justice television series, I would settle for a a Green Arrow or Impulse series.

I'm a Little Heartbroken

There were a few things I planned to post blog entries about in the next few days, but I read something today that had to be commented on immediately. It was reported in Variety today that NBC will be cancelling Passions and adding another hour of The Today Show to their daytime line up in the fall, like the world needed more of Meredith Viera. I don't watch Passions anymore, but I feel this loss deeply. When Fox announced that The O.C. was being cancelled, I was sad. I have a lot of fond memories of the show, but I did voluntarily stop watching that show. With Passions, I can honestly say that I would still be watching today if it wasn't for the horrible truth that I am now an adult and had to get a job. On the rare occasions when I am home on a weekday, I still tune in.

I began watching Passions after its several mentions on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Fans of Buffy may remember that it was Spike's favorite show. I naturally wondered what was so inherently funny about this show, and who this Timmy character was who was stuck in the well. I instantly fell in love. Created by James E. Reilly, the man who first brought demonic possession to daytime on Days of Our Lives (Marlena was possessed by a Succubus and it was awesome), Passions was the most cracktastic thing I had ever seen on television. All the traditional soap opera plotlines were carried out to the most extreme degree, and then topped off with witchcraft, incest, portals to hell, relationships that could destroy all the evil in the world if consummated, reincarnation, the dubious acting talents of Liza Huber, pacts with the devil, daytime television's first lesbian sex scene, a controversial Orangutan nurse with an active fantasy life named Precious, Bollywood musical numbers, and, really, so much more. Passions was a soap opera on acid, and it was fully aware of it's own ridiculousness. After the show ends in August, day time television may be a little more sane, but it will never be as fun again.

I end my tribute to Passions, with a tribute to what was by far the show's greatest contribution. While still great, Passions was never the same after the passing of Josh Ryan Evans, and the departure of the delightful living doll Timmy from all of our lives.

I raise a Mar-Timmy to you, Passions, in celebration of your insane and campy brilliance. Like the wonderful Timmy, you will be missed, and my sick days will be far less enjoyable.

I Can Destroy Planets

As you may or may not know, Dr. Doom is my greatest role model of supervillainy, but I can't really be disappointed with these results. I'm not going to go all Jean Grey and let my conscience get the better of me. I plan to revel in the Phoenix Force's power. Just try and stop me, you Shi'ar bastards!

Your results:
You are Dark Phoenix

Dark Phoenix 65% Magneto 59% Apocalypse 57% Mystique 49% Poison Ivy 47% Lex Luthor 47% Dr. Doom 45% The Joker 42% Venom 40% Juggernaut 37% Two-Face 37% Kingpin 33% Riddler 32% Catwoman 32% Green Goblin 29% Mr. Freeze 26%

A prime example of emotional extremes: Passion and fury incarnate.

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain are you?" quiz...

Catching Up

I'm a bit annoyed with myself that I went a whole month without posting a new entry, but I honestly didn't have anything to say in December. It was a slow month and my mind was on things besides pop culture. (I didn't know it was possible either.) I thought about doing a review of Spider-Man: Reign #1, but my thoughts on it pretty much began and ended with "It's okay, but I already read Dark Knight Returns" and "GAH! Old people sex!" Since then I've expanded those thoughts to include speculation that it would be revealed that Mary Jane was raped and murdered. It's what Frank Miller would do. I bet the Black Cat has become a prostitute too, because Frank Miller loves whores. For good measure, an elderly Peter Parker punches out J. Jonah Jameson, who, one would assume, is roughly 200-years old for undisclosed reasons. This, I assume, is because Frank Miller would want Spider-Man to be an asshole. Sadly, it's not All Star Spider-Man, so we won't be subjected to the comedic gold of lines like "I'm the goddam Spider-Man!"

Then I thought about doing an entry on Spider-Man 3, and some of the new information that's surfaced, including the article in a recent Premier magazine (an article in which a fourth movie was all but confirmed and Raimi said he couldn't imagine doing Spider-Man without Tobey Maguire, which is just funny considering how quick the guy was to put in a call to Jake Gyllenhaal last time that looked like a possibility), but I already posted about the first trailer (convenient link). At this point, I'm mostly just anxious to see the movie. May cannot get here soon enough. I'm ridiculously excited about it, but I'm also afraid it's going to suck. Sam Raimi pretty much rules my world (and would even if the only movie he ever made was Evil Dead II), but can he possibly do justice to so many characters?

There was also this announcement, which I didn't say anything about for your own good. Nobody likes an overly emotional blogger, and Spidey, MJ and dear old Aunt May's future in regular continuity comics tends to make me a bit on edge lately. I wonder why. I will say one thing about it though. It seems odd complaining about the artist on this project, since it's Joe Quesada, but part of me would really rather see John Romita, Jr. doing it. He's pretty much the definitive Spider-Man artist of my lifetime, and if "One Day More" is going to be the capper on the era of Spider-Man comic books I grew up with, I would have liked him to be a part of it. Also, just in case I get so upset I have to stop reading Spider-Man comics, I'd like to see him draw the web head one more time before I say good-bye.

There were only two non-Spider-Man related, and therefore potentially safe and emotion free, items that tempted me to blog during December. The first was the Donner Cut of Superman II, which I have mixed feelings about and I will probably do a review of soon. The other was the announcement of which writers would be joining Joss Whedon on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 8 comic book, but how interesting would "Oh my GOD! Brian K Vaughn, Drew Goddard, Jane Espenson, and Doug Petrie! This is going to be so awesome!" be? Brain K. Vaughn is also joining the writing staff of Lost, thereby ensuring that I will be sticking around at least long enough to see an episode penned by him. Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in. That J.J. Abrams is mighty sneaky.

It's also worth noting that I read Occasional Superheroine's "Goodbye To Comics" in December, but that didn't so much inspire me to blog as much as it made me feel a little ill, very depressed, and kind of want to burn my copy of Identity Crisis.

Well, that was my December 2006. Hopefully 2007 will be awesome and there will be plenty of stuff to blog about, with this blog having a lot less bitterness and bitching and a lot more fun. I's unlikely though. I can always find something to bitch about. I do anticipate to be blogging more in the coming year. I already have several ideas, so hopefully I'll stop being so lazy. Happy 2007.

Not the Barry Manilow Song

I watched Daybreak, the Lost fill-in show on ABC, o Wednesday. It was OK, but I couldn't shake this feeling of familiarity, and it wasn't just because of the premise. Shouldn't this have been a Denzel Washington movie? Maybe Taye Diggs is making a bid at being Denzel-lite: the TV version. He's good looking enough, but he's going to have to start showing off some of that charisma that made an utterly generic show like Kevin Hill watchable for a full season.

Also, the show is completely wasting the considerable talents of Adam Baldwin. I sincerely hope that they put him to better use in the coming weeks, especially since the mere fact that he is on the show is going to keep me watching for its entire run.

Spider-Man 3 Trailer Thoughts

OK, there was a lot going on in this, and I am all excited and worried and this is going to be rambly and, well, here it goes...

Flint Marko did not kill Ben Parker. That's just wrong, and it smacks of John Byrne style revisionism and I don't think I like it. OK, now that I've gotten that over with, I can get on with everything else.

I had thought we were going to get a glimpse of Venom in this one, but if we did, I missed it. However, we did get a look Harry going all Green Goblin-lite and trying to get revenge on Spidey. I'm kind of glad he didn't actually become the Green Goblin with the suit and all. I had no desire to see that particular costume again. James Franco is so great as Harry Osborn, and I think that whole subplot will be amazing. I know it happened the comics, but I hope they don't kill him off. I guess that's exactly why they should kill him off though.

There was plenty of Sandman in the trailer, and aside from what I mentioned up top, it looked great. Thomas Haden Church looks perfect, and while I am happy about the aforementioned revisionism, I think the character stuff for Peter will be amazing. I'm still disappointed about how they are depicting the symbiote from what we have seen so far. It was much cooler in the comics, but maybe this is just part of the restrictions of live action. I don't know, and we still don't even have a hint of why the symbiote wants to bond with Peter.

Kirsten Dunst still sucks, but at least she didn't seem all passive aggressive, which I suppose is a side effect of being in on the whole Peter Parker is Spider-Man thing. I guess I still hold out hope that, while we can't stop Kirsten Dunst from being awful, the writing will start making the character resemble the Mary Jane we currently have in the comics (since we can't go back and re-do the whole evolution of the character). I love Mary Jane almost as much as I love Spidey and I just want her to be awesome. The addition of Gwen Stacy actually makes me wonder about Mary Jane's fate. I think she's either being introduced just to be killed off, or she's being introduced as a replacement love interest in case Kirsten Dunst doesn't want to do any more movies. As much as I don't like the films' portrayal of Mary Jane or Kirsten Dunst in the role, I think I would hate the latter option even more. What can I say? I've loved Mary Jane since I was a little girl and Gwen Stacy was just way too prone to hysterics for my taste.

Uh, I don't know. I've only watched it once so far. I'm sure I will have more thoughts after I have watched it a dozen more times. There's going to be so much going on in this one. It makes me nervous, especially after the X3 debacle.

Wanna See Something Really Scary?

Do you know what character I think would make for a really scary Halloween costume?

Jessica Fletcher.

I'm serious. That old broad brought death and destruction everywhere she went. At first, her evil was contained to the sleepy New England town of Cabot Cove, but eventually she ran out of people to kill there. (Eventually word had to get around of what was going on, and once that happened, not even the best tourism board in the world could keep up the influx of has-been, B-list, elderly celebrities who regularly made trips to the town.) The Angel of death spread out, bringing death to the streets of New York, and even plaguing Magnum PI on at least one occasion. The worst part is, no one ever caught on to her game. Jessica Fletcher continued her killing spree beyond the confines of her show and into several television movies.

How Come the Stripper Doesn't Get to Be an X-Man?

Now that we have met Nikki's husband, on last night's episode of Heroes, I'm a little upset that she's not a Colossus rip off since he's the Kitty Pryde of the show. (He should have tried phasing a baseball bat through Nikki's head. That's apparently how Kitty would deal with a betraying spouse.) My big revelation from last night was actually that Nikki seems to be a take off on The Sentry, what with the multiple personalities and all, though her powers aren't as close to those of The Sentry as the other characters are to their corresponding X-Men characters. Maybe I am missing someone and there is an X-Man with a super strong alternate personality.

The other big non-surprise of the night was that Mohinder's annoying neighbor s orkin for Claire's dad. That was so obvious.

The past couple of weeks haven't been as good as the previous episodes, but I am by no means disappointed. This show rocks. Also, November sweeps will have started by next week, so I am expecting things to really amp up, because that is what happens during sweeps.

Where the Hell is Jesus on This Thing Anyway?

A few authors got together and wrote this book of the 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived. It's a list of the most influential fictional characters ever.

I haven't read the book, so I can't judge the authors' reasoning, but the list seems a bit wonky to me. For one, no matter what my personal opinions of the characters, I do think Superman (#64) has been more influential than Buffy the Vampire Slayer (#44) and Batman (#60). Is Buffy even old enough to really judge it's level of influence? Also, so many of these characters feed off the other characters on the list, or off of characters that don't even make the list. Isn't it a bit redundant to have both King Arthur and Luke Skywalker on there. Since Luke is more clearly derivative of traditional allegorical figures, wouldn't Han Solo be the more influential character since you can't throw a stone in the sci fi world without hitting one of his clones.

As for characters that were influenced by characters that didn't make the list, Batman borrowed a lot from The Shadow, so where's he? If you're going to include superheroes, where's Spider-Man, a character that, while definitely drawing upon and reacting to what came before him, turned that stuff on it's head? And I daresay Buffy would not exist if Peter Parker hadn't existed first.

Furthermore, I can not think of a single reason why the Marlboro Man came in at #1, especially when they have Joe Camel selling the smoking image at #78 and the American Cowboy selling the Western hard-man image at #19. Isn't the Marlboro Man just a derivation of the American Cowboy used to sell cigarettes. I won't even go into the irony that the Marlboro Man was developed as a way to start marketing a brand to men after the release of milder cigarettes with filters became preferred among the women the brand originally targeted. Essentially, the Marlboro Man is the result of a corporate sex change.

I can't really comment on the more literary and mythological figures. I will just trust that they deserve their ranking.

"Welcome Wagon"

Veronica Mars is back! Finally!

The premier was so good, better than the season 2 premier. We met a few new characters, like Parker and Piz. I can already see how the Neptune sheriff's department is going to handle the rape investigation, because, as we know, Lamb is a complete ass and will surely hold Parker's sexual history against her. I immediately liked Piz. He is adorable and is clearly going to come between Veronica and Logan. The fact that he is so immediately lovable also makes him immediately suspicious. He can't be the Hearst rapist, because he wasn't at Hearst last year, but mark my words, by the end of the season I am sure we will find out something really bad about him. After Beaver Casablancas, I don't trust anyone.

I will also go on record right now as saying that I do not think Dick is the Hearst rapist. (He is an eligible suspect because while he wasn't at Hearst last year, he was in Neptune.) After that ending, it would be far too obvious. I do wonder what he did though. Also, I think that Logan's friendship with Dick will come between he and Veronica also. As much of an idiot as Dick is, he stood by Logan through everything. Logan's not likely to forget about that, and Veronica isn't likely to cut Dick much slack if she suspects him of something.

Fun Fact: The criminology professor, who Veronica's classmate was drooling over, was also the hot anthropology professor on Saved By the Bell: the College Years. By the way, how funny is it that Veronica is taking an introductory criminology class? I'm guessing she'll do well.

Finally, I was so happy to see some of my favorite recurring characters get bumped up to regular status this season. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Tina Majorino (Mac) and Michael Muhney (Lamb) this season. Unfortunately, I am not digging the new credits. I get slowing down the theme song (again) to accommodate the ever expanding cast, but I really miss the sketches. I guess I will just start fast forwarding through the credits now. Eh, whatever, my favorite show is back. Woo hoo! I can't wait to see what happens next.

Astonishing X-Men #17

(I hate when I can't think of more interesting titles for my blog entries.)

OK, that post about Heroes was a brief respite from the recent theme of this blog, but really, we must be getting back to the Joss Whedon gushing. I've actually been meaning to do some gushing on this topic for almost a week. That's right, it's time to throw some praise on Astonishing X-Men #17. Did you read this thing? It was amazing. Up to this point, #14 had been my favorite of this arc. Then issue #16 comes out and it's a pretty dead heat. (That issue did teach us just how badass Kitty's powers can be, after all.) Now #17 comes along and blows away, not only every other issue in this arc, but possibly of the entire series to date. So now I give you random bits of Astonishing X-Men #17 love:

• Kitty Pryde continues to be my new favorite character - I thank god that she's on the side of the angels, 'cause that thing with the pipe in the head was scary
  
• Victorian child Logan
• The end of Victorian child Logan - apparently beer is his spinach, which is just priceless
• Whedon and Cassaday fucking pulled focus in a comic book. Unbelievable
• Lockheed: WTF? That's just...really unexpected
• Cassandra Nova is the scariest looking old bald lady ever
• Cyclops: badass!
• the cover

I also have a question. What is Teenage Negasonic Warhead's power, besides having the coolest name ever? Have I just completely forgotten seeing her use it? I'm going to have to go through the past issues and check that out. I hope I don't have to pull out my E is for Extinction trade paperback, because I have no idea where it is. While I'm at the question asking, why does Scott have a gun?

Honestly, I just can't say enough good things about Whedon, Cassaday, and the whole team on this book. I had forgotten why I once loved the X-Men, and while I have recently decided to give Uncanny and adjectiveless X-Men another chance, and am finding that I mostly enjoy those titles, it's such a joy to be able to just pick up and read an X-Men title without having to worry about whether I am caught up on all the crap baggage that normally comes with reading an X-Men title. With Astonishing I can just enjoy the story and the characters. I can't wait to see how Whedon is going to wrap "Torn" up in the next issue. There are so many balls in the air. We have two Emmas, Ord, Danger, Cassandra Nova's psyche (which was just all kinds of ewww), Teenage Negasonic Warhead (I just like the name), and whatever Emma did to Cyclops' powers. I can only imagine some of that stuff is going to carry over into the next arc, because surely not even Whedon and Cassaday can cram that all into one issue.

On a non-X-Men, but still comic books related note, is anyone reading and Sensational Spider-Man and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man? I had given both titles up for being completely sucktastic, but now I feel like I'm missing out on stuff. I'm still not sure I am happy about the events of Civil War with regard to Spidey, but I can't deny that it has put Amazing Spider-Man back at the top of my pile of books to read whenever it comes out. JMS is just handling it incredibly well. (The fact that it gets us away from crap like "Sins Past" and "The Other" doesn't hurt at all.) Have the other two books experienced the same bumps in quality?

Shows Named After Bowie Songs Rock

First of all, I have to admit that I am already a bit confused by Heroes. I felt a bit like I started watching it halfway through. However, I am more than willing to go along for the ride and try to make sense of everything that is going on. I thought the premier was fantastic. My favorite character so far is Hiro. He quotes Star Trek, references the X-Men (and Kitty Pryde no less), and you just can't beat the pure unadulterated joy he feels about being superpowered. Conversely, the cheerleader from Texas (I think) really annoyed me, but I am going to cut her some slack for now because her mom is weird and her dad is clearly evil. The character I was expecting to hate but actually kind of liked was the guy played by Milo Ventimiglia (the nurse who thinks he can fly). The press painted him as some whining, mopey youth and he really wasn't. He was just a guy trying to make sense of his place in the world, which I think makes him very identifiable. Sure he was a bit broody, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some of my favorite characters brood. The storylines I am finding most intriguing write now is the internet stripper and how she did what she did (it was awfully messy), not to mention what the hell is up with her reflection, and the Indian geneticist, because he obviously has some of the answers.

Next week we get to see Greg Grunberg. YAY! I love him and I hope that this role really gives him a chance to shine. He deserves it. Also, I just found out that Tim Sale is doing the heroin addict psychic's art, so keep an eye out for that because Tim Sale is amazing.

(I posted the answers to the Buffy trivia questions in the comments, so if you're interested, go check that out.)

Buffy Sing-A-Long

I know this is several days later than I said it would be, but look! I have visual aids! Those are the "instructions" for the audience participation. I was going to type them out until I remember I've had a scanner since February that I have never used and that Blogspot has a nifty little photo insert feture that makes it really easy. This is a momentous event. I posted my first picture on this blog. Look forward to many more in the future...or not. The fact that I now how to do it now doesn't really preclude my laziness. Anyway, on to my account of the Buffy Sing-A-Long...

My friend and I arrived at the IFC Center at around a quarter after 11PM and there was already a really long line of people waiting to get in. Soon after we arrived, the line became much longer. All the tickets sold out in advance of the show and there were actually people going up and down the line offering a minimum of $20 for the $10.75 tickets.

Inside, the theater was small and very crowded. The organizer, a thirty-something, heavy set man dressed like a watcher, was selling paper bags with the various items that would be used during the show for $2. Some of the bags were "special challenge" bags, meaning that there were some extra things that the people who chose those bags would have to do. My friend and I didn't take those bags because we didn't want to be made to do anything we didn't know about in advance. Next time I am so going to take one of those bags.

Before the show, there were a couple of competitions, or whatever you want to call them. First up was a Spike line reading competition, followed by an Anya line reading competition where three people were chosen to read a line in the manner of the character with the winner being chosenby the audience applause. The Spike line used was from "Tabula Rasa," when an amnesiac Spike realized he was British: "You english men are always so... bloody hell! Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bollocks. Oh god.. I'm english." The Anya quote was from her seduction of Xander in "Harsh Light of Day": "I like you. You're funny and you're nicely shaped. And, frankly, it's ludicrous to have these interlocking bodies and not... interlock. Please remove your clothing now."

After that was Buffy-oke where three sets of people were chosen to act out a scene karaoke style. For this competition, the organizer chose the scene from the season 2 episode "Innocence" where Buffy went to go find Angel in his apartment the day after they had sex not knowing that Angel was now Angelus. He chose it because, in his opinion, it was the most heart breaking scene in the history of the show (and I agree that it deffinitely ranks near the top of the list) and because "a dulcet choir of pretty little birdies" was one of the best lines ever. While the other two competitions were entertaining, this one was especially hilarious, especially because two of the pairs chosen were same sex, one made up of two women, the other of two men. It was the mixed gender pair that one though, since they were by far the best actors.

Then they showed the musical, "Once More With Feeling." Finally. This was so much fun. I, of course, did not need the subtitles to know the lyrics to any of the songs. They are indelibly etched on my brain from numerous home viewings of the episode and countless hours spent listening to the soundtrack. Anyway, everyone sang and cheered and waved their little monster finger puppets around. During "They Got the Mustard Out," some of the people with special challenge bags had to get up on stage to dance around with dry cleaning bags. During "Walk Through the Fire," other people with special challenge bags had to throw around red streamers. Unfortunately, neither my champaign popper nor my kazoo worked. My odd vampire mouth noismaker did though.

After the show, they showed the unaired half hour production pilot, which I had seen in college when it was making its rounds on the internet, but that was several years ago. It was very bad, and there was the "very bad, terrible, wrong Willow" (an actress named Rif Reagan, not Allyson Hannigan, played Willow in the production pilot and she could not act at all), but all the seeds for what would become an amazing show were there. Having just watched the two hour premier, "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "Harvest," on Sunday I can say that the production pilot may not have had the production values, or the Willow, of the final product, but the humor, charm, and originality were all present. Thank god the WB had the foresight to see past the low-budget to see the brilliant concept.

Well, that's it. Hopefully, this will become a widespread phenomenon and everyone will get to enjoy it in their own cities. The IFC Center already has another Buffy Sing-A-Long weekend planned for November. I'm going to finish up by posting the questions from the Buffy Trivia Challenge that was also in the goody bag. If you reply to this entry with your answers, I will post a reply with the correct answers in a few days.

1. Name the Broadway musicalthat launched Hilton Battle's career. (hint: It was made into a 1978 film staring Diana Ross)

2. Name one of the songs sung by Giles on BTVS before the musical episode.

3. In which episode does Anya forst reference her fear of bunnies?

4. "Respect the cruller and tame the doughnut!" is a reference to what movie?

5. What pop singer was going to provide Buffy's singing voice before SMG decided she needed to do it herself?

6. Which season 7 episode features a flashback sequence with another musical number from Anya?

7. Who is the only character to appear in the original Buffy production pilot and the series finale of Angel?

Farewell, Old Friend

I fully intended to post an update about the awesome Buffy Sing-A-Long I wet to last night, but I think there is something I bit more pressing and monumentous that I should address first. Today marks the final day of programming for the WB before it becomes the CW. To honor the event, The WB aired "A Night of Favorites and Farewells," including the series premieres of Felicity, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dawson's Creek. Naturally, I felt obligated to tune in for the networks final five hours.

I thought the shows that they chose to show were very interesting. All were shows that have been of the air for a few years, and while Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek were both flagships that helped define the network, none were the huge rating successes along the lines of 7th Heaven and Smallville. Felicity and Angel never even seemed to be all that appreciated by the network when they originally aired. That said, I do think that these shows, along with the aforementioned 7th Heaven, will be what the WB is remembered for. And I think the reason for choosing these shows was to showcase the talented young creators (J.J. Abrahms, Joss Whedon and Kevin Williamson specifically) that were given their start by the network.

Over the years, I have bitched about the network's handling of shows, meddling, fostering of the likes Joey Potter and Lana Lang as positive female characters, the overemphasis they place on the hair length of their stars, and the continued existence of 7th Heaven, but there really was a lot of good there. After all, The WB gave Buffy the Vampire Slayer a chance when no other network would (for that alone I can forgive almost all sins). They also gave us Gilmore Girls and four wonderful seasons of Everwood, one of the most intelligent and interesting family dramas ever. Many of the actors and actresses have gone on to bigger and better things as well. Who would have ever expected Jaime Fox to go on to win an Oscar?

I also loved that their final five hours of programming included showing some of the old WB ads, which were always entertaining, if completely bizarre. I especially liked the "Watch the Frog" campaign, which is hard to explain. Essentially, two of the network's stars would be engaged in a supposedly candid conversation (two that were aired tonight featured Michael Rosenbaum talking to Tom Welling about padded bras and Kristin Kreuk and some actress I did not recognize talking about how going to couple's counseling is easier than going through all the work of a break up) and then happening upon Michigan J. Frog, the network's former mascot, and one of them saying "Watch the frog," presumably before the other actor or actress stepped on him. Like I said, the ad campaigns were bizarre. They also re-aired a series of ads that featured James Vander Beek and Scott Foley on a road trip. There were also montages of the bumps featuring all the actors and actresses throughout the years. Say what you will about the talent level of most of the shows, but you can't deny that they were among the most attractive people to ever grace television screens (well, aside from Vander Beek).

Think of me what you will, but most of the shows I watched since the start of the WB have been WB shows. They were very much the pop culture touchstones of my generation since the beginning. I don't know if the CW can really live up to that legacy. Their line up barely features much new programming, let alone anything innovative, and it seems much more focused on reaching out to advertisers than gaining a following with young viewers by providing an alternative programming to the other networks. Veronica Mars is the only risky show they have in their line up and it's going into it's third season. It's a bit depressing really, since burgeoning networks have in the past built themselves up on shows like The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer before they went all corporate. However, like the WB before it, the CW will be showing the majority of the shows I will be watching.

Tomorrow: the Buffy Sing-A-Long, a.k.a. the geekiest thing I have ever been a part of.

Best. News. Ever.

Joss Whedon is going to take over writing Runaways after Brian K. Vaughn leaves. I had actually hoped this would happen, which is what kept me from being completely devastated when I heard that BKV and Adrian Alphona were leaving the book after issue # 24. This is just so cool. I read about it late last night and I got entirely too happy. What can I say? I am a total Joss Whedon fangirl. I would not have even discovered Runaways if it wasn't for him since I had never heard of the title until I read that it was Whedon's favorite.

Joss, of course, has some interesting and entertaining stuff to say about taking over the titles. He also made some comments over at Whedonesque.com (scroll down and you'll find all three). This is what a big fangirl I am. Even Whedon talking about Runaways delights and entertains me, but when he's joking about jockeys hitting eachother with baseball bats, putting Molly on Planet Hulk, and how he's going to kill half the team, it's hard not to love the guy. Also, putting Molly on Planet Hulk isn't such a bad idea, though I'd rather see her beat up Wolverine. (But Whedon's got Wolvie acting all Victorian and wussy over in Astonishing X-Men, so I'm happy for now.) I'm excited about putting the Runaways on the run again too. This is going to be so cool, and anyone who isn't reading this book should deffinitely catch themselves up by next April so that everyone can share in my joy.

In unrelated, but still comic booky news, I think I may have found the very first Manga title that I am interested in checking out. Return to Labyrinth sounds pretty cool, and I would really love to know if the Goblin King can possibly be as cool in print as he was when brought to life by David Bowie. I have no idea if the too tight pants, crazy big hair, and disturbingly sexual nature of his performance can be captured on the page, but I really want to find out. I suspect it will involve a lot of inappropriate, yet essentially harmless touching.

More Fun With Lists

The whole not including cartoon characters or puppets rule really made compiling the list of my favorite television characters tough, so I've decided that I needed to make a list just for them. For this list, I ignored the rule about having to be a regular character, because that would have eliminated some awesome characters that just could not be ignored. All the characters did have to come from series though, not movies or specials. Sorry, still no Barney Rubble.

As always, this list is in random order.

1. Buffy the Vampire Salyer

OK. Fine. She never actually made it into cartoon form, but it would have been awesome. I'll start over now.

1. Spider-Man
2. Winnie the Pooh
3. Grover
4. The Tick (the only character to make both lists - unless you count Buffy)
5. Gonzo the Great
6. She-Ra
7. The Question
8. Harley Quinn (the most adorable psychopath ever)
9. Lex Luthor (nothing but love for the Super Friends version, but I'm talking Timmverse all the way)
10. The Flash (again, Timmverse)
11. Kermit the Frog
12. Cyclops (included not because he was ever in a very good cartoon, but because I first became aware of him through a cartoon, and that deserves acknowledgement)
13. Brak
14. Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
15. Brock Samson
16. Homer Simpson
17. Firestar
18. Iceman
19. Ms. Lion

Hehe...Just kidding...

19. Optimus Prime
20. Bumblebee
21. Skeletor
22. Snuffleupagus
23. Oscar the Grouch
24. Snoopy
25. Charlie Brown
(I figure there are enough Peanuts specials out there for it to be considered a regular sort of thing and therefore they can make my list.)

You know what? I don't actually think that's a great list. I bet if I limited it just to a top 10, it would be a really strong list. Maybe I should have just done a list of my top 10 JLU characters. Whatever. I'm leaving it the way it is.

Fun With Lists

A of at Whedonesque.com directed me to James Gunn's blog and I realized two things: 1) James Gunn is very cool, both as a person and as the director of the Dawn of the Dead remake, and 2) this blog needs more lists. So, in that spirit, I am going to list my 25 favorite characters, just like James Gunn did. Later I might even take another page from Mr. Gunn's book and list 100 things I love and 100 things I hate. Anyway, a note before I begin, unlike James Gunn and Joss Whedon's lists, Whedonverse characters will be all over this motherfucker. However, I will try to stick to the rules of not including any puppets or cartoon characters (making it a very difficult list to compile) and to only include characters that are regulars on the show.

Now on to the list of my 25 favorite television characters, presented in no particular order:

1) Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - OK, this one actually is in order, since she is deffinitely my favorite television character ever.

2) Jack Bristow (Victor Garber, Alias)

3) Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner, Alias)

4) Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars)

5) Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion, Firefly) - James Gunn may have left him off but I sure as hell wasn't going to.

6) Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman)

7) Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin, Firefly)

8) Brother Justin (Clancy Brown, Carnivale) - the rules say no cartoon characters, but Clancy Brown had to be represented, even if not as Lex Luthor

9) Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan, Twin Peaks)

10) Spike (James Marsters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel)

11) Spock (Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek)

12) Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr, Freaks and Geeks)

13) The Tick (Patrick Warburton, The Tick) - Thank god there was a live action version

14) Captain Kirk (William Shatner, Star Trek) - Shatner's Roast is on right now and I realized that there is no way the greatest Star Trek captain does not make my list

15) House (Hugh Laurie, House)

16) Buster Bluth (Tony Hale, Arrested Development)

17) Gob Bluth (Will Arnett, Arrested Development)

18) Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan, Arrested Development)

19) Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke, The Dick Van Dyke Show)

20) Dr. Bob Hartley (Bob Newhart, The Bob Newhart Show)

21) Wesley Wyndham Price (Alexis Denisof, Angel)

22) David Brent (Ricky Gervais, The Office UK)

23) Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report)

24) Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black, Farscape)

25) Timmy(Josh Ryan Evans, Passions)

Man, that list was so hard to come up with. I didn't think I could make it to 25 without cartoon characters, but now that I'm done I feel like I left people out. Oh well, I'm sticking with it. Who do you think I should have put on the list?

From the Man Who Made Ninjas Boring...

Marvel needs to stop hiring Zak Penn to write everything because he fucking sucks. I couldn't even watch Elektra, and I think I have made my feelings about X3 perfectly clear.

At least he's not writing Captain America, so I can have hope for that. I think I am going to write a letter to David Self and ask him to include Cap's "Do you think this A stands for France?" line from Ultimates. As I have mentioned before, I really want to hear that line in the movie. It just says it all.

Finally, do you think Hank Pym is going to beat his wife in Ant-Man movie?

Embarrassing Admission of the Day

I am actually looking forward to watching Gene Simmons Family Jewels tonight. I'm the first to admit that the world doesn't need any more reality shows, especially not of the kind where some celebrity puts himself and his loved ones on display for cash, an image change, or some desperately needed exposure. I'm sure this show is an attempt by Simmons to return to the spotlight and appeal to a new audience, much like The Osbournes did for Ozzy. (Eventually, KISS is going to have to make good on those retirement claims.) That's actually the main reason for my emabarrasment. Nothing Simmons ever does seems to have a motivation other than profit and self-aggrandizement. A reporter recently asked him if he was worried that the show would hurt his image, and therefore his future earnings. Simmons responded by saying that it might, but he already had enough money. I have to wonder how much money he's still making off that image now anyway. The KISS Army is there, and I don't think anything he does is going to lessen there willingness to buy anything he slaps a picture of his giant tongue on, but I don't think that image is really pulling in the kind of profit it used to.

The clips I have seen look pretty amusing though, and you know that Simmons' ego, which is bigger than his platform boots, isn't going to be able to remain intact with teenager children. Seeing him get taken down a few pegs just by being in a domestic setting. (I saw Being Mick. Even Jagger doesn't get to play rock god with his family.) However, I mostly think this show is going to be interesting because the Simmons Family, while unconventional, seems pretty functional. That alone sets it apart from other shows of its kind. I remember some conservatives complaining about The Osbournes, but they should be far more concerned about a show like this. Here we have a rock star and a former playmate who have never wed and aren't even monogymous raising two well adjusted, intelligent and apparently very un-Osbourne-like children. That's pretty subversive stuff when you think about it.

On a somewhat related topic, the newest Entertainment Weekly had a small feature on Gene Simmons' past television roles. While that was amusing, and I welcome any mention of KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park and the bizarre casting choice for Ace Frehley's body double (too bad they didn't work in a mention the fact that that wasn't even Peter Criss' voice), it's a shame it was limited to television. I can't be the only person who wants to talk about Wanted: Dead or Alive, where Rutger Hauer memorably shoved a live grenade in Gene Simmons' mouth. That was good stuff right there. Man I miss the 80s.

By the way, if you didn't figure it out, this whole post was just a flimsy excuse to mention an almost twenty-year-old Rutger Hauer movie. Why would I do such a thing? Because I am at work and have nothing to do and no supervision, thereby eliminating the need to pretend like I am doing work. Also, it's always a good time to mention Rutger Hauer. I would do a whole blog entry on him, but quite frankly I can't remember much about his films besides little details like shoving a grenade in Gene Simmons' mouth. Good times.