TV STUFF:
- HOLY LORD, the CW affiliate here in LA, KTLA, deserves the finger of shame to end all fingers of shame. Last night, one of the last ever Gilmore Girls and maybe (hopefully not!) one of the last episodes of Veronica Mars were completely preempted here in LA, for news coverage of the fire in Griffith Park!
Now, I understand this is a serious story and in some cases may need to be reported on to inform people of where the fire is spreading to and if any evacuations might be necessary. BUT -- KTLA was the ONLY station in LA spending time on this with continuous coverage, and, within minutes, there was NOTHING TO REPORT ON. The fire is bad, it's still burning, and so forth. WE GET THE POINT. Since all of us were indoors, tucked away, since outside everything smelled like freakin' fire and brimstone, the least KTL and the CW could do was to give us some quality dramatic entertainment. Did I really need to hear the droning of the anchorman as he ruminated on the storied history of the Los Feliz area, its historic portrayal in Hollywood movies, and the ongoing status of the fire, as if sometime in the next two hours there'd be any breaking news? This was flat-out ridiculous. And, it makes me sad because Veronica Mars needs every ratings point it can get. The LAST thing it needs is to be preempted in one of the country's biggest markets right at zero hour for the show.
- I'll also go on a tangent here ... Though I hated that KTLA felt it needed to spend TWO hours playing images of a fire burning with no new news to report (for pyromaniacs everywhere, it was the greatest night of TV ever!) - I'm also unbelievably shocked that this fire is going on in the first place. Because, supposedly, this was a man-made fire. I don't know all the facts yet, but will people PLEASE stop starting fires here in LA? I mean, what the hell is wrong with people. All those annoying people who are always flicking cigarettes and playing with lighters should be locked away. WHY DO THEY DO STUFF LIKE THAT. Now, most likely thanks to some fire-starting idiot, all of LA smells like it just got charbroiled, not to mention that one of the nicest parks and outdoor areas in the region is UP IN FLAMES. Thanks guys!
- But on another TV note ... one more Finger of Shame to FOX. I had been wondering why KING OF THE HILL wasn't on lately, replaced at 8:30 with Simpsons reruns. Now, much to my surprise, I find that FOX has indeed been running King of the Hill, unceremoniously dumping it in its old timeslot of 7:30 pm. Why would they do that? And why with such little fanfare? I had NO idea this was the case, and have now missed a bunch of episodes of one of my favorite shows, a show that despite being a long standing hit for FOX, seems doomed to perpetually be banished to the worst spots on the network's ever-changing joke of a schedule. Man, who did Mike judge piss off at FOX to be treated like he has by them in the last year or so. First the travesty that was Idiocracy's shelving, and now this.
- I caught Monday's HEROES, and it was a little bit of a letdown after last week's watermark episode. Now, there was a lot to like. Everything with Sylar and his mom was great stuff, and the inclusion of Hiro and Ando in those scenes was a lot of fun and made for a great face-off between Hiro and everyone's favorite super-powered brain-eater. Micah being held captive was also a pretty cool storyline, although Ali Larter didn't seem as sharp as she's been the last few weeks. Whenever they make her this kind of wobbly, conflicted woman she starts to drag as a character. They had a good thing going with her dual personalities being fully revealed. This week, Nikki / Jessica resumed her domestic squablling with the typically-bland DL, and things once agai nwent downhill. Meanwhile, the Mohinder stuff was also kinda lame. Explain to me again why his DNA contains the antibodies to cure the little girl? I will say though that Eric Roberts is great and a nice addition to the cast. Finally though, the Claire-Peter-Nathan storyline, leading up to the big NYC gets nuked payoff, came off as very contrived. Instead of thinking anything true, all the characters are just warbling away about destiny and faith (it's these same kind of ambiguous non-conversations that have often hurt Lost). As it stands, either Ted is predestined to go nuclear, or else it's Sylar or Peter who acts as a human bomb. So why is Peter rushing to be present at the scene, when it's him who could very well be the catalyst for armageddon? All I know is, at episode's end, somehow all the major players converge at the same time in New York, which seems to be somewhat of a cop out in place of a tight, logical scenario where everyone is cleverly and organically set up to come together. So yeah, the Sylar scenes here were the real standout, most everything else seemed to be a lot of filler that somewhat awkwardly put the pieces in place for the season finale.
My Grade: B
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