What's up, loyal readers? Man, this has been a nutty week. Lots of craziness at work, to the point where by the end of each day my brain is 100% fried. It's a terrible feeling. Like, yesterday I really needed to go grocery shopping, and just removing myself from my new couch (!) was like this huge process. I kept wanting to do some writing, but I sat staring at my computer screen and was pretty much just numb. Ahhh, I need a vacation. Or something.
Hmm, mentioning my new couch has made me realize that I've barely talked about me at all of late here on the blog. And what good is a blog if it can't be filled with every who-gives-a-crap detail of my life? Haha, okay, well, I won't totally bore you to death, but since I've already annoyed my friends and coworkers with this stuff, I might as well put it here too. Basically, I have been trying to make some very exciting (well, to me) upgrades to the ol' apartment of late. Gone is my old LL Bean couch, and in its place is a shiny new, and, much more comfortable sleeper-sofa. The new couch is a few inches longer, which is perfect as I can now lie fully outstretched on it without my feet going over -- a necessity for any true-blue couch potato such as myself. In any case, its very comfortable and is a big upgrade. Since I live in a studio apartment, any change in furniture is a bit traumatizing, as it changes the whole look of the place. Luckily, I am over my initial minor-trauma and am now pretty well-adjusted to the new look of my apartment. Let's call it Danny's Apartment 1.5. Or even 2.0, if we're feeling ambitious. New couch, new TV ... is this a sign that I'm moving up in the world? Most likely, no, but one can dream.
What I am realizing is that, since I am a big collector / accumulator / person who refuses to throw stuff away ... my studio apartment is getting really full. I already have more DVD's than I have room to store, my closets are all full ... Oh well, one step at a time. One step at a time.
- So, NBC announced its fall lineup, much earlier than is customary for the big networks. But, f course, this year is different thanks to the Strike, and while there are surely tons of cost-saving measures that make this new process advantageous, I can say that for us on the peripheries of the network, it's a lot less fun. Basically, when NBC announced its Fall Schedule, I got my info about our new shows the same way as everyone else -- going online and reading Ain't It Cool and Variety and the NY Times. I've barely seen any of the scripts for the new shows, and have definitely not seen any footage (and may not, as the late production schedules and lack of a real "pilot season" means that first episodes will be ready-for-viewing much later than is typical). So, when it comes to: what do I think about the new NBC lineup, I have no idea as of yet because I don't know anything. But yeah, like everyone else, I'm dying to know what exactly an Office spinoff looks like.
- As part of my new HDTV setup, I upgraded my cable to include HD channels (though Charter's selection kind of sucks right now), as well as built-in DVR. Finally, right? So I'm still playing around with recording seasons and series, but yes, I have finally entered the 21st century. Like I said, I'm movin' on up. Now I seriously need a PS3.
- Nothing to really talk about in terms of TV. Next week, THE OFFICE and 30 ROCK return, praised be Jeebus. I am dyin' for some more LOST though.
- One big TV news item is that longtime SMALLVILLE showrunners Gough and Miller have apprently left the show. I think that, overall, these guys deserve a ton of credit for creating a show with a great premise that really helped inspire the whole "the hero BEFORE they were a hero" genre, and paved the way, IMO, for shows like Heroes to have a place on network TV. Now, on the other hand, Smallville has undeniably been a show that's never quite lived up to its potential. Furthermore, over the last few years the show's quality has steeply declined -- forcing fans to endure endless runs of lame dialogue, week after week of characters being possesed or personality-altered, Lana being turned into a witch, Lana in general, and just an overall lack of real forward momentum or epic storytelling. Yeah, I've praised the show in recent weeks, citing a string of fun, big-event-style episodes that helped reignite some of my flagging interest in the show. But would I welcome some new blood to help end the show in style? Yes I would. Here's hoping that this next season of the show is its last, but that it's a fun, inspiring, epic adventure that delivers one hell of an ending.
- Speaking of Superman-related letdowns, DC's COUNTDOWN seems to get more godawful by the week, even as it jets towards it conclusion, after nearly fifty weeks of lame storylines, lame characters, and a plot that can only be called one giant, pointless cluster$#%*. I read this week's issue baffled at the sheer ineptitude of what I was reading. How did this happen? How did creators like Paul Dini and Keith Giffen allow their names to be put onto such a meandering, aimless piece of crap? Look, I am usually one to find the brightside in any given book ... but this has been 50 weeks of garbage ... I think it's fair to ask what gives.
- Now, on the other side of the coin, all hail Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly for the work they've been doing on ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, a series that with each and every issue gets better and better, each story a self-contained mini-classic in its own right, and even more impressive when looked at as part of the larger tapestry of the series. This book has proved the perfect venue for Morrison's out-there ideas and imagination, and Quietly's subdued but ultra-expressive art is a 100% perfect match for the quirkiness at hand. A must-read for Superman fans, All-Star Supes is awesome.
- One more comic to talk about: Mark Miller's much-hyped mature-readers series, KICKASS. After hearing so much about it, I picked up the first two issues and gave it a read. The verdict? Well, hard to say definitively this early in the game, but there is most definitely a spark here. The kind of spark that you see in a series like Y: The Last Man, or Preacher, or Supreme Power. A spark that indicates this COULD be the next great comic book. Basically, it's the premise that makes it so darn intriguing from the outset. A depressed and restless teen, firmly planted in the "real" world, has a pent up desire to throw caution to the wind, throw on an old scuba diving suit, and go out on the streets and, well, be a superhero. So he goes out, gets more and more into his whacked-out idea, and proceeds to quickly get the living hell beat out of him by a group of thugs. Within one issue, our "hero" is in a hospital bed, barely alive. But in issues #2, after months of healing, he tries to dispense some vigilante justice again - he just can't shake that crazy superhero idea of his. This time, he is once again beat up and humiliated, but somehow, he puts up a pretty good fight. The twist? a bunch of onlookers watch him, someone records the whole thing, and this being the "real" world - the video, of course, finds it ways on to YouTube. What happens next? I literally have no idea. But I haven't been this excited to find out in quite a while. The series, if nothing else, feels totally fresh and new, and I think what makes it so exciting is that I have no clue where Millar is going with this. Sure, there are some hints dropped and some foreshadowing of what's to come. But man, this one is going to be a ride - I can 100% see why this book was immediately optioned by a major studio to adapt into a feature film. This one has "make into a movie" written all over it. Highly recommended that you get on board.
- Alright, I am out of here for now. Now where's that old scuba suit ...
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