I've been trying to hold off on talking about J.J. Abrams' new show Fringe. Partially because I don't really know what to say about it and partially because I don't want to jinx it. The show stars Joshua Jackson as Peter Bishop, the genius son of the scientific genius Walter Bishop, played by John Noble. Anna Torv plays Agent Olivia Dunham, an FBI agent scouted by Homeland Security to help deal with these new scientific phenomenon that are occurring all over the place. Unfortunately, Walter had been locked in a mental institution for 17 years and, while he is still brilliant, he's not quite all there. There's a lot that is going on in the show. Relationships between people change just about every episode (and there's only been 2 so far!); science is seen from new perspectives; the impossible is possible if you think hard enough. I really do enjoy the show a lot but I am nervous. After all, it is on Fox and they don't have the best track record of keeping good shows on the air. I hope that it will at least make it through the season.
TV review: True Blood
It seems that vampire are the new "in" thing for entertainment. HBO debuted their new vampire series, True Blood, Sunday night. It stars Anna Paquin as Sookie, a waitress in a backwater Louisiana town. The plot revolves around vampire wanting to be accepted in mainstream society. A synthetic blood, called Tru Blood, that satisfies vampires' dietary needs has been formulated so there is no longer a reason for them to feed on humans. Now they just want to be like everyone else. However, not everybody is willing to blindly accept bloodsuckers.
Sookie spends her nights waitressing at Merlotte's, a local watering hole. Unfortunately, she has the ability to hear other people's thoughts. Of course, her secret makes everyone think she is strange. One night, Bill, a vampire played by Stephen Moyer, stops into the diner. Sookie is immediately taken by the stranger since she has never seen a vampire before. Her best friend Tara, played by Rutina Wesley, and her boss Sam, played by Sam Trammel, both warn her to stay away from Bill but Sookie can't. After all, Bill is the only one that Sookie can't hear in her mind. At the same time, Bill is intrigued by the mortal girl.
I fully expected a crappy vampire show. It's not often that someone pulls off a really good vampire story. HBO found some amazing actors and writers. We're only one episode in and I'm already smitten.
JDorama review: Zettai Kareshi
Title: Zettai Kareshi
Also Known As: Absolute Boyfriend
Broadcast date: 4/15/08 - 6/24/08
Genre: Romantic comedy
Number of episodes: 11
Cast: Hayami Mokomichi, Mizushima Hiro, Aibu Saki
Plot: Riika (Aibu Saki) is terrible at love. One day, she finds herself strapped with a free trial for a new love robot, Night (Hayami Mokomichi). Despite Night's absolute devotion to her, Riika finds herself falling in love with her boss, Soshi (Mizushima Hiro). Which will Riika choose?
What is good: Much like Ghost in the Shell, it has a "what does it mean to be human" theme wrapped up in the romance storyline.
What is bad: How come Night can't willingly destroy property but he can go around telling everyone he's a robot even though Riika was explicitly told not to tell anyone?
Letter rating: A-
Overall: As a drama, I found it to be excellent. I was even crying during the final episode. However, that doesn't mean it doesn't have problems. The robotic sound effects that Night makes when he blinks or turns his head get somewhat annoying after awhile. We know that he is a robot. We don't need to be reminded. We do need some continuity though. Why doesn't everyone else hear Night's blinking noise? Also, Riika is told very explicitly that Night is a secret and she is not to tell anyone that he is a robot. So what does Night do? Blab it to everyone. Even if no one believes him, why wouldn't he be programmed to not say he's a robot?
If you look past those few small problems, the show really is good. The actors do an excellent job, especially Hayami Mokomichi. This would be a great show for any romantic comedy fan.
JDorama review: Honey and Clover (TV)
Title: Honey & Clover
Broadcast dates: 1/8/08 - 3/18/08
Genre: Romance, Slice of Life
Cast: Narumi Riko, Ikuta Toma, Harada Natsuki, Mukai Osamu, Narimiya Hiroki
Plot: A group of art students try to make sense of life and love.
What is good: The characters seem a bit more human this time around.
What is bad: The first half of the show is still pretty boring plot-wise.
Letter rating: B -
Overall: I've now watched the anime version, the movie version and the TV version of this franchise. Of those three, the television series is definitely the best version. I believe that is because the writers gave a little more humanity and depth to the characters. Ikuta Toma, who played Takemoto Yuta, is a great comedic actor. As such, he was able to make all the crappy things that happen to his character seem a bit less apocalyptic but the big changes still had a big impact. Also, Narumi Riko's Hagu has a lot less creepy than any of the other versions. I'm not sure how she did it but she took a very creepy, little-girl-looking character and transformed her into a shy woman who is plopped into a strange new world. So, while I'm still not a huge Honey and Clover fan, I'd definitely watch this version more than once.
TV review: Secret Talents of the Stars
I haven't watched a reality TV show in awhile. When I saw the previews for Secret Talents of the Stars, I just knew I had to watch it. The basic premise is that some famous people have some talents that we don't know about. Last night at 10PM was the premiere episode. The first episode featured ice skater Sasha Cohen, country singer Clint Black, actor George Takei and singer Mya. Before I talk about their talents, I really want to question what gets counted as a "talent." It seems that it's just something you can do that you aren't known for. I'm not sure that some of these things count as actual talents but let's continue.
Sasha Cohen starts off the show. Her talent is a contortionist routine. She's very bendy so she gets paired up with professional Chinese contortionists and they do a routine. It's nice but rather boring. Next up is George Takei. He's going to sing some country music. Sadly, he massacres "On The Road Again." Poor George. I wanted him to do good. Clint Black is next with a comedy routine. Every performer gets a mentor to work with. Clint was paired up with Garry Shandling. I was very surprised to see that Clint was actually pretty funny. Granted, he needs to work on his delivery a bit but, c'mon, this is the first time he's performed stand-up in front of a crowd. He did really well considering how difficult that can be. The night ends with Mya's tap dancing talent. She did OK but this wasn't anything particularly amazing.
It is interesting to see stars do something different. However, I'm not sure that being bendy is a talent. The same goes for singing country music badly. (Sorry George, I can't see you singing any country song well.) I think there are 6 more episodes to go and I want to see what other talents get rolled out. I also want to see what will happen in the next round. Will Sasha do the same routine or will she work on getting better? Let's see how long this show can keep my interest.
Website of the Week: D-Addicts
For people interested in Asian dramas, D-Addicts is a great resource. They even have a Wiki so you can easily find information about all of your favorite shows and their actors. The site isn't just limited to Japanese dramas either. You can also find Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean and Hong Kong dramas. D-Addicts has helped me find a lot of the older dramas that newer fansub groups haven't picked up. They are definitely one of my favorite resources.
JDorama review: Nodame Cantabile
Title: Nodame Cantabile
Broadcast date: 10/16/06 - 12/25/06
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Number of episodes: 11
Cast: Ueno Juri, Tamaki Hiroshi, Eita, Koide Keisuke, Takenaka Naoto
Plot: Noda Megumi, despite her extremely unusual behavior, is a piano prodigy. However, she wants to become a kindergarten teacher. Chiaki Shinichi is a musical perfectionist and Nodame's (Noda's nickname) next door neighbor. Nodame falls madly in love with Chiaki but can he ever accept someone as strange as this girl?
What is good: Ueno Juri and Tamaki Hiroshi both shine in their respective roles as Nodame and Chiaki
What is bad: There wasn't anything particularly bad about the show.
Letter rating: A
Overall: From the first episode, I was hooked on this series. Besides having a good mix of comedic and romantic moments, there was some really good classical music. My favorite moment was when the S-Oke performed "Rhapsody in Blue." This is the first time that I have seen Ueno Juri (Nodame) and Tamaki Hiroshi (Chiaki) perform and, I must admit, I was impressed by their acting abilities. There are quite a few sight gags that require a lot from the actor. Both of them pulled it off very well. I'm looking forward to watching the specials as soon as I can.
Top Five Favorite - Television Shows
I watch a lot of weird television shows. Here are my top five favorite, along with what stations they play on in the US: 1. Top Gear (BBC America) 2. Chuck (NBC) 3. Torchwood (BBC America) 4. Doctor Who (Sci-Fi) 5. Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (BBC America)
As you can see, I watch a lot of British TV. I do watch a lot of US shows as well but most of them just aren't as entertaining as I find these.
Game review: Pat Sajak's Lucky Letters: TV Guide Edition
I almost feel dirty writing this review. Pat Sajak's Lucky Letters game is basically a crossword puzzle. This particular version is all about television shows. The levels are broken into decades so, if you happen to know more about television shows from the 90s, you can choose that decade. Then you won't be bombarded with questions from shows in the 70s. If you know a bit about television, the game is extremely easy. Most of the questions are from extremely popular shows and even if you come upon a show you don't know, you can skip that one and you'll eventually solve it after answering the rest of the puzzle. The game was fun but it was all fluff. I haven't even finished the 60 minute demo and I'm already bored with it after finishing three decades. Skip this game and try for something a bit more difficult.
Knight Rider
I probably should have talked about this earlier. Last week, my husband and I watched the Knight Rider movie on NBC. I thought it was a pretty good show. Yeah, people are going to complain about something but, you know what, the thing is based on a television series that was filled with cheese and impossible stunts. You can't really expect gold to come from anything Knight Rider related. One of our friends complained about KITT's car spoilers appearing when he went into "Action" mode. (I still prefer Super Pursuit Mode!) He said that the dual spoilers weren't necessary. However, KITT was doing around 200 mph. The car would need some sort of downdraft on the rear to keep it from spinning out all the time.
Anyway, I really hope they can spin this off into a television series. I liked that the KITT's new driver is Michael Knight's son. I like Val Kilmer's voice for KITT. I like that they changed KITT from just being bulletproof to having nanotechnology that allows him to fix himself when he's damaged. More please!