Other Thrillers:

The real one:

Michael Jackson's Thriller

Thriller

Woops, I guess that wasn't it... my bad.

Danger Man (aka Secret Agent)

Before the Prisoner, there was Danger Man.

Patrick McGoohan, the star of the cult classic, The Prisoner, stars in Danger Man as John Drake.

At the moment I'm watching the "original" series from 1960. Apparently after a hiatus the show returned revamped.

In this iteration Drake is a secret operative from NATO, who is sent to differing locations to deal with a variety of issues - mainly dealing with murders and kidnappings so far. They play pretty standard so far as a detective show, but specific episodes show great promise - he's sent to assassinate someone in one episode and takes the mission with little hesitation.

The series also boasts a huge variety of different stars and by my count I've seen at least 6 different James Bond actors (as well as other actors) in less than 10 episodes.

If you're a fan of crime dramas and spies, you should most certainly check this series out. I will have to look back at this review once I've completed the series.

****/*****

Star Trek (2008) update!

Straight from Trekmovie.com, Lord of the Rings actor, Karl Urban has been cast as McCoy, and Chris Pine has been cast as James Kirk.

Memory Alpha article (I even was the lucky one to get the two edited in there first!)

24: Day 3

In my continuing shotgunning of my TV series, I'm diligently working through all the episodes of the series 24.

To tell you the complete truth, I had only seen this season once all the way though, and that was when it first aired. Since then I've caught one or two episodes here or there on A&E marathons (back when I was in college/unemployed). I've also only seen Season 4 once as well all the way through, but at least there I saw the last half of the season at one point so I'm more on the ball with that one.

From my first impressions all the way back when I first watched the season, all I can really describe it as is slight disappointment. After re-watching the season, some of this initial feeling still exists, but what I get from this season now is a much more solid storyline than I had initially thought.

It's outrageous that so much could happen in one day, or that most of the events that occur in the first half of the season are all based on Jack's complete luck, but hey, the show only gets more ridiculous in later seasons.

I'll reiterate the previous sentiment that "I digest them more thoroughly and glean them of their enjoyment instead of just blowing through them like I've got the runs" is pretty accurate as by the 3/4ths the way though the season I had already forgotten what the heck happened at the start until I really though about it.

Season 3's story is based around biological terrorism. The release of a super-agent that could kill millions if released into the general population. While many might say the season takes place in two distinct parts, it's more like 3 (like Full Metal Jacket is often mistaken as). Minor spoilers follow.... The first part has to do with the drug-lord Ramon Salazar and his escape from jail and return to Mexico to be reunited with his brother Hector. The second part has to do with Jack trying purchase the virus in Mexico. The third "act" has to do with events that transpire in Los Angles when the real bad guy of the day is revealed.

For Mr. Show fans look for Mary Lynn Rajskub as socially incompetent Chloe. For Scifi fans, look for - future Spock actor and current bad guy in Heroes, Sylar - Zachary Quinto as Adam. James Badge Dale shows up in an exciting role in The Departed.

Staring: Kiefer Sutherland, Elisha Cuthbert, Carlos Bernard, Dennis Haysbert, Reiko Aylesworth, James Badge Dale, Penny Johnson Jerald, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Zachary Quinto, Jesse Borrego

***/*****

Star Trek (2008)

So for those who don't know, JJ Abrams is helming a new Star Trek film. Unlike the last few, this will actually be another "original series" film, but with one major exception: it'll be a completely new cast playing all the main characters:

Zachary Quinto: Mr Spock
Simon Pegg: Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott
John Cho: Hikaru Sulu
Zoe Saldana: Uhura
Anton Yelchin: Pavel Chekov

At the moment they're thinking perhaps Chris Pine as Kirk and Karl Urban as Kirk and McCoy respectively.

They've also gotten Leonard Nimoy to reprise his role as Spock but not William Shatner for Kirk. Me thinks that Shatner's bloated ego might have something to do with this but best not to dwell on such things.

I was initially entirely opposed to the very notion of them making this film but lately I have warmed to the possibility. It'll all be in the execution and I'll re-evaluate once I've seen the actual trailer.

The Best Shows you're NOT watching (and probably should)

In general TV is a complete wasteland. Here's a short list of more recent shows that you should be watching on TV (or DVD):

1. Eureka - The second season just ended, so there's not much to catch up on until the DVD set comes out. In the meantime catch up on the first season's story of a quirky North-Eastern US town full of the most brilliant people in the world. They also turn out to be the most dangerous since at least one person dies in each episode. So much for it being a quiet little town. While the series is a little reliant on some jargon, it's mostly slapstick and barely takes itself seriously (though the science is treated as being "real"). Sheriff Carter's disbelief of practically all the events that occur in this town are shared with the audience. Season one is out and is only 13 episodes long.

2. Journeyman - This is by far the best new series of the season. The casting is phenomenal (Rome's Kevin McKidd is working so I'm happy). The show is a little difficult to initially wrap your head around - as it shares a mix between the Time Tunnel and Quantum Leap, and frankly not a lot has been explained. In my opinion the lack of disclosure of what is actually causing Kevin McKidd's character, Dan Vassar, to jump between the past and present is interesting. It's not too late to jump in (NBC also has at least the previous week's episode online, if not all of them)

3. Bionic Woman - Another new show this season, and while not a ratings disaster by any means, it's a show that could prove to be quite good. I've heard some people mention it's similarities with Alias, but it seems a lot more like a more sci-fi oriented version of spy series "La Femme Nikita" - which wasn't half bad either (check that one out too). NBC also has at least the previous week's episode online, if not all of them, and the series is reaired the following Friday on the Sci-fi channel.

4. Battlestar Galactica - Soon to be returning, what I consider the current best series on television is nearing it's return with a two hour movie "Razor" - which will tell the story of the annihilation of the human race from a different perspective. of all the shows on this list, it would be the hardest to catch up due to it having a miniseries, One 13 episode series, and Two 22 episode series already completed.

5. My Name is Earl - The oft forgotten comedy that is much more brilliant and true to the heart than the "slob husband/hot wife" combinations (or any derivative of that formula). It is in it's 3rd season but all you really need to know is that Earl has a list of wrongs he's trying to right. Easy enough to remember.

6. Torchwood - The BBC import (which is airing every Saturday on BBC America) is the X-Files of this decade. Except a lot more blood, and real cursing, and sex. This spin-off of Doctor Who shares little in common aside from dropping familiar names and the main Character, Captain Jack.

Honorable mentions of other shows I watch (but don't care if you do) are The Office (which lost a lot of it's charm after I got a real job), Stargate: Atlantis (which is take it or leave it by this point), and Flash Gordon (which 50% camp and 50% crap - sorry, Rock Creek Park doesn't look like cows graze in it).

So there's the 6 shows that I can't miss week from week and neither should you.

Nick GAS

I think I have found my new favorite channel. Nick GAS, for those unfamiliar with it, is a network that airs many of the classic game shows that mostly aired on Nickelodeon back in the 90s.

To be honest I could not remember half of the ones I watched, and only started to recover the "memory" of some of the more obscure game shows that I may have only watched once or twice as a young kid.

Shows that I have fond memories of are "GUTS", which brings joy almost every time I watch it because I wonder how much Mike O'Malley must have drank before coming out to film episodes (he called Mo - Quirky once, dear lord). The Aggro Crag, which once looked quite dominating and huge, now looks like a cheaply constructed concoction of pannels, that might be 20 feet high and require only minimal ability to reach the top (and this only comes into play in the last 5 feet).

Nick Arcade - an absolutely lovely slice of 1991-93. Horrible clothing, corny graphics (that even though the show spanned more than a year they never got good), and only one or two video arcade games that I knew about even back then (Sonic the Hedgehog for instance). And after re-watching this over the last few weeks, I've come to realize that little game playing actually occurred, I suppose it's all well and good considering that watching someone play games (even different ones) for a near solid 30 minutes would be quite boring. Phil Moore, the host, seems like a kid wacked out on too much Mountain Dew and Skittles. The Nick overlords obviously allowed him to let loose and do just about anything he wanted. He'd ad-lib obviously on-the-spot words to fit the music playing at the time, which is always wonderful because you can tell when his mind drew a blank "Da-da-daaa-da-da-do" would come out instead. Couple all of this with kids that obviously are unable to do the "The Video Zone" (reaching too far to the left/right, dying constantly) makes this game really really enjoyable to relive, too bad it's almost only on at 4:00am.

Of the shows I've caught, I've only come away marginally unimpressed by two, and I figure the reason is because I stopped watching Nick shows by the end of my Elementary school tenure, or around when "Rocko's Modern Life" went off the air.

"Figure It Out" and "Double Dare 2000" leave me scratching my head, "Figure It Out" more-so.

Double Dare itself is pretty universal and ageless (aside from the prizes, which I'm gonna get to later). I'm just not that impressed with the host. He's capable, but he comes off pretty condescending and half the time he doesn't seem interested in being there. Since it's been quite some time since I watched the original, I can't really say whether or not they camped up the shtick as much in the older iterations. It comes across as an extremely forced "cooky" rather than naturally coming. It doesn't help that they get some of the most incompetent families to play, as they are incapable of answering even simple questions. No one ever wins the final Obstacle Course, because frankly I think it was rigged as they've introduced obstacles that could easily be set to not "go off" regardless of how much effort the person trying to complete it can do. On the flip side they also stick wildly inappropriate people to do specific obstacles, I mean, they'll stick the smallest kid on one that makes it so they're even unable to reach high enough to complete it.

"Figure it Out" is just lame. They might as well have called it "Sedo-Olympic gold metal winner treats guest panelists like trash while they guess completely impossible to guess 'talents'." In other words, if the panelists - which was made up of current Nick stars, current young stars, and a few other former Nick stars that couldn't resist a paycheck - could guess your "secret phrase" then you're an idiot and didn't deserve the "15 inch see-through Zenith tv set."


Oh the prizes... the prizes. As a youth no one would realize how poor the prizes really are, or how wildly they range, or that apparently once they select the prizes (most likely randomly), they won't change it. Two boys on Nick Arcade won two extremely girly toys, and a MAKEUP KIT. Great. Other times it ended up being Nesquik or a ring pop/push pop candy. Great, things I can get at any grocery store!

Marginally better prizes were shoes, that's at least talking 60+ dollars (maybe). "SKETCHERS....ITS THE S!!!" I'm sure that's what kids really want. New backpacks (eh, not absolutely horrible), and sometimes even clothing/jackets. And don't forget SPACE CAMP! Dear lord.

I guess I'm glad I'm not a kid anymore, now let me find my LA Lights and box of Nerds while I stare at the speed bump from the set of GUTS I won.

24: Day 2

As I heard someone eloquently say about the debate between watching a series all at once on DVD or every week on TV, "I digest them more thoroughly and glean them of their enjoyment instead of just blowing through them like I've got the runs."

To be frank, I can't disagree. I love my marathons of 24 (or any other series), but by the 6th episode in I start to forget what happened 4 episodes prior. Did X happen in Y episode? Have we really not seen character A since episode B?

Since I'm familiar with the story already it makes it really easy to follow what happened because I was able to watch the show week by week with enough time to discuss and think about what happened in the episode itself. I recall watching season one of Lost with my old roommates in two days (only one break to sleep/study for finals). By the end of the run I had to remind them of events that occurred just a few episodes back. The same can even be said about the current format that 24 plays itself out on TV which is for the first week of the new season they air 2 episodes Sunday night, 2 Monday night, with one episode every Monday from there on. After the 4th episode airs I have to evaluate what the heck just happened before being able to move on.

I've just come off watching what I consider the best season of 24 they've made so far. This is not to say that the subsequent seasons are not good, but that the seasons aren't just as good. This season deals with a terrorist plot to detonate a nuclear bomb on US soil and what the reaction from the White House would be if such an event occurred. The only downside to this wonderful season is the dire Kim Bauer subplot that is painfully shoehorned into a story that's just 2 sizes too small to fit this. It becomes forced and nearly laughable (especially Kim's martial art's boyfriend who nearly does a round-house to her would-be killer). Couple that with Kevin Dillon's short stint as a crazy man in the woods (plus a cougar trap that Kim gets trapped in), makes it the low point of the season.

Other than that the season has as much action and suspense as a theatrical film. And yep, that's Jack's dad from Lost as Bob Warner.

Staring: Kiefer Sutherland, Sarah Wynter, Elisha Cuthbert, Xander Berkeley, Penny Johnson Jerald, Carlos Bernard, Dennis Haysbert, Reiko Aylesworth, Michelle Forbes, Jude Ciccolella

****/*****