Thursday This N That

Yes, I’m still quite bummed about the cancellation of Sanctuary this week. Let’s just hope that my jinx of having my favorite shows canceled isn’t coming back in full force.

One of those shows that has no thoughts of cancellation is Rizzoli & Isles, which is returning for Season 3 on Tuesday, June 5th (my mom’s birthday). Why does it seem that all of my favorite shows end up on Tuesdays now?


Just a FYI – the season 2 dvd collection of Rizzoli & Isles was just released this week as well. Be sure to grab yourself a copy.

On a related note – yesterday was National Turtle Day. Yes, that also includes tortoises like Bass Isles.

Speaking of turtles & tortoises, I had to chuckle as I recently re-watched CSI 9x19 Descent of Man for the first time in a long time. At the very end, Cath & Ray are talking in Cath’s office.
C: Seems like a lot of things keep falling out of the sky, right? Poison, people, turtles
R: tortoises
C: whatever

That was so reminiscent of Jane & Maura’s continuous turtle/tortoise banter about the label of Bass’ proper species – which started right from the pilot episode.
J: what? You have a turtle
M: tortoise
J: whatever

And just because I seem to be on a turtle/tortoise kick for some reason – I noticed this article today in Science Daily.

Cath’s previous comment about things ‘falling out of the sky’ also reminds me of the return of Falling Skies on TNT, June 17th for a 2-hour premiere. I think I really need to go back & have a marathon of Season 1, because I think I missed a bunch of stuff during the season. Time for a refresher, I think.



One show promo that I found myself totally shaking my head at is the new series, Men at work, which starts tonight on TBS. Notice the difference in promotion? The “crude” version was in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. The more ‘family friendly’ version was in In Touch Weekly. Either way, I can’t imagine that I’ll be watching the show.


Other upcoming projects to take note of:

Hatfields & McCoys – the mini-series with Kevin Costner on History Channel is next Monday, May 28th.
Longmire with Katee Sackhoff & Lou Diamond Phillips premieres on A&E Sunday, June 3rd
Necessary Roughness returns to USA on Wednesday, June 6th, and yes, Liz Vassey will also make a re-appearance in the new season.
Saving Hope, a new series with Stargate SG-1’s Michael Shanks premieres on NBC Thursday, June 7th
Dallas begins its new over-hyped show on Wednesday, June 13th on TNT
Burn Notice returns to USA on Thursday, June 14th
I’m still not sure if Perception with Eric McCormack is interesting or not. Guess I’ll have to check out the pilot.



I also need to mention that I’m actually enjoying Common Law (Friday nights on USA) a lot more than I thought I would. That’s strange, considering that it really doesn’t have much of a female presence, which is usually my deciding factor in liking a show. However, I really like Warren Kole. He had been a guest star in Season 1 of Rizzoli & Isles (as Sumner Fairfield – the brother of Maura’s ex-boyfriend.) I kind of categorize Common Law as the male equivalent of Rizzoli & Isles. Instead of Jane & Maura’s LLBFF relationship on R&I, Common Law has Wes & Travis as an “oil & water” bickering detective duo, who also attend ‘couples therapy’ sessions together. They also have Jack McGee as their captain. He was also a R&I alum, playing a bartender.


Common Law, of course, has taken over the timeslot that had been filled by another bickering duo, Mary & Marshall on In Plain Sight. I still miss that show. However, the lead-in show to that time slot on USA has Sarah Shahi in Fairly Legal. That has also become one of my favorite shows.

I’m starting to see a pattern here --- Jane & Maura, Mary & Marshall, Kate-Ben/Kate-Justin/Kate-Lauren/Kate-Leo, and Wes & Travis --- Maybe bickering duo shows are now my go-to thing, in place of the procedural shows that I’ve enjoyed throughout the years. Oh, and can’t forget Max/Caroline from 2 Broke Girls, another bickering duo that I’ve come to enjoy. Maybe you could even include McGee/Ziva/Tony and Gibbs/Dr Ryan from NCIS in all that bickering as well. And then there’s Kensi/Deeks from NCIS:LA – a show which has really started to grow on me, mainly because of that bickering duo. Like I said, maybe things have changed and I’ve had a yearn for something a little spicier. That’s probably why I got bored with CSI for the past few seasons. Oh wait, that probably had more to do with dry & dull Ray Langston than anything else I guess.

May there be Sanctuary for all, and to all a good night.

In the words of the nearly-immortal Dr Helen Magnus – “BLOODY HELL”
I was doing so well lately with my shows, almost getting to the point where I could start to think that my jinx of having my favorite shows canceled was finally disappearing.

Yeah, I somehow knew that it was too good to be true.

After four adventure-filled seasons of following Dr Helen Magnus on her journey to help abnormals, fend off enemies, and even bring us a touch of time travel, Syfy has pulled the plug on Sanctuary.

Therefore, we have no more adventures for the 273-year old Helen (Doctor of Ass Kicking) Magnus and the gang. We have no more stories about Helen and the rest of The Five – which included John Druitt (aka Jack-the-Ripper, and Helen’s one true love), Nikola Tesla (vampire genius), Dr James Watson (aka Sherlock Holmes), and Nigel Griffin (aka the Invisible Man). There are no more stories about the hijinks in the Sanctuary with Bigfoot, Henry, Kate or Will, or what goes on when the boss lady is away. We have no more insight as to what the latest abnormal is and how it can be caught or protected.



On the bright side (yes, there actually is such a thing) – we can be assured that Helen, Will, Tesla, Henry, Kate and hopefully all of our other beloved Sanctuarians (because I refuse to believe that any of them are actually dead, since it is sci-fi after all) are happy in their new (and much brighter) Sanctuary home after the total destruction of the old, dark place they used to call “home”. I’m glad to know that it was Helen herself who activated the self-destruct on the old Sanctuary, and pushed the button to make what had taken her over a century to build, crumble to the ground – with her standing in the middle of it, no less. It’s also great to know that she trusted the F.O.S.S.S. shield built by Henry, whom she had raised since he was a child, to save her life.



THAT’S why I am able to say farewell to this wonderful show with a smile on my face, because I can imagine a new Sanctuary world where the usual hijinks will continue (they always will when you live & work with abnormals) and our heroes are still fighting the good fight.

A big THANK YOU to Amanda Tapping, Damian Kindler and Martin Wood for bringing us these adventures. Thank you for being the “little web series” that had enough promise & vision to end up on my tv screen for four marvelous years. Thank you for introducing me to some great actors that I wouldn’t have otherwise been aware of – like Agam Darshi, Robert Lawrenson, Jonathon Young, Ryan Robbins, Emilie Ullerup, Pascale Hutton, Robin Dunne, and the many, many guest stars as well, to go along with those other familiar faces that crossed over from Stargate, like Christopher Heyerdahl and Peter Wingfield. And thanks to all of those with the show who brought us all of the "extras" - like the behind-the-scenes pics, videos and tweets to make us all feel like part of the Sanctuary family.

There is also a much brighter side to this Sanctuary experience as well. It’s a “brighter side” that will continue to shine, despite the cancellation of the show. I’m talking about Sanctuary For Kids, the charity that helps kids all around the world. Yes, the show may be over, but the legacy of what the show was about – helping others – will continue through S4K. You can find out how you can make a difference at SanctuaryForKids.org.

Friday This N That

I'm still trying to figure out why I even bothered to watch this week's season finale of CSI, when I knew that it was basically going to be crap. I even used the Catherine Willows theory and came in with very low expectations. I guess they really weren't low enough.

It still begs the question - why do the CSI writers ALWAYS have to end the season with a "bang" (or in this case, more of a slight whimper)? Do they STILL not realize after all this time that the greatest ending for any of the 12 seasons of this show is still season 1 - with the entire team sitting at a diner & eating breakfast together. The case was solved, the FBI got the credit, but our favorite team just shrugged it off and continued on with their normal routine.

Did we really come to the point of actually caring about DB's granddaughter yet? We just met her. She might as well have been listed as a "red shirt". Back when Lindsey was in peril during Lady Heather's Box, and again in season 7's BTK, we had already known/heard about Lindsey for years. That's why we cared. Maybe they should have had Charlie (DB's son) kidnapped in this instead. We've seen him before a couple times. Maybe we'd care more.

I still can't figure out - were they really trying to rip off the Cath/Sam shooting scenario in BTK2 with Morgan & Ecklie in this one? Could they seriously not come up with anything more original that recycling the biggest moment in the Cath/Sam relationship?

Another reason I've almost lost total interest in the show is that there's no "team" anymore. It's DB and his family (his continually increasing family), a transfered CSI whom Russell used to supervise, another transfered CSI who is the daughter of the Undersheriff, and the remaining three from the "original" cast, who really don't seem to do a lot these days. Add a glimpse of Doc Robbins, a touch of Brass (when he's even there) and a wimpy excuse for a plot, and that's all there is lately. Oh, wait. I forgot the dead body. There's ALWAYS got to be a dead body in each case now, right? No simple kidnappings, no trick rolls, no burglaries - unless there's a dead body. Maybe they're turning over a new leaf for the beginning of next seasons, because you know they won't let DB's grandkid die. We know George is coming back so Nick won't be leaving, and I've gotta figure they're not going to be cliche enough to kill off Ecklie like they did Sam (with hardly even a mention of Sam's passing in the next season), so what's really the point of all this drama. Why not come up with an interesting case that doesn't include corrupt law enforcement? (That has become such a cliche)

Okay, okay. Rant enough for ya?

Let's move on to brighter things --

such as this week's episode of NCIS:Los Angeles. Strangely enough, I've been watching this show a bit more. This last episode has been the best so far. I love the Kensi/Deeks episodes. This one had the two posing undercover as a married couple. You can only guess the fun & hijinks that scenario caused. It was awesome - especially when Kensi kicked that lady's ass during their fight. You don't mess with Kensi Blye.

Since today is Friday, that means a new Fairly Legal episode as well. Looking back to last week's episode, I was actually surprised that I'm kind of starting to like Ben - sort of, anyway. I guess he's acceptable in very small doses. They just need to get rid of his overly abundant annoying snark and save that for the one that really does it best - Kate. I also really like the way they've toned down Lauren a bit. Thankfully they've taken away much of the Kate/Lauren "evil stepmother" synopsis...a little bit anyway.

Also last friday brought the series finale of In Plain Sight. While I knew Mary & Marshall wouldn't get together, it was nice to see a happy ending for all. Through the five seasons, I even grew to like Stan really well. He kind of reminded me of CSI's Conrad Ecklie. Their characters really started to grow on me as they were finally given some character development.

Taking a quick look at new shows - I saw some of the first pics for the new show, Chicago Fire.

It made me nostalgic and wanting to dig out my old vhs tapes of LA Firefighters, with Jarrod Emick, Christine Elise, and Alexandra Hedison.


I also saw yesterday that Parenthood has been renewed for another season. It'll be great to have some more Bonnie Bedelia sightings again. I just wish the sightings occurred more often.

on a final note - I saw this pic of this sculpture made of tin cans.

Maybe they should put it next to Constance Isles "hanging water bottle" exhibit that Jane "adored" so much on Rizzoli and Isles.


and related to Rizzoli & Isles - I just saw the cute little interview with Sasha Alexander & her daughter, Lucia, from the new issue of Redbook. Lucia interviews her mom. So cute. ( you can check it out here at the Ausxip website )

CSI 12x22 homecoming

Seriously? They start us off with 39 minutes of total boredom, followed by a couple minutes of Sara, Greg & Nick talking about how nothing’s changed, followed by a minute of Morgan & Conrad doing a cheap imitation of Cath & Sam at the end of BTK2, and end with the "Oh My God! They took a member of DB’s ever-expanding family"?

Really?

To end the season?

Really?

Who comes up with this crap?

We are forced to endure an episode of mostly Sheriff Liston, Ecklie, McKeen, the same political crap that we can’t seem to get rid of since they decided to take Warrick down the drugs/mob path. We also get a much wider view of the Russell family (good grief), and then there’s the over-exuberant, single-minded focused Julie Finlay – a character that the writers really can’t decide how to write. Sometimes they make her a pretty good character. In this episode, she was just really, really annoying. Why can CSI writers never be consistent in writing a main female character? Seriously. Throughout the 12 seasons, they've written the main female characters as just a way to serve what they want to get across in the current episode, and to hell with any consistent character development.

yes, that's a whole other rant in itself.

It seemed that Sara & Greg were just props, and there to just look good (which they do - and they even look much better together).

Nick kind of pissed me off again (so, what else is new?), when they were talking about McKeen.
Nick: Yeah, he murdered a good friend of mine, CSI Warrick Brown
Sara: he was a good friend of all of ours

Thank you, Sara, for reminding Nick that things aren’t always all about him.

Surprisingly, it was Nick who ended up with the best line of the night.

Nick:I’m starting to think that Catherine was right
Greg: What? Leaving?
Nick: No Greg, quittin’
Sara: come on, Nick. I know things have been crazy right now, but …
Nick: Hey, she once told me "if you can’t handle this job, there’s the door." And you know what? I’m out.

It seems Catherine’s temper tantrum to Nick in this season’s premiere finally got through to Nick. Remember?
"what am I trying to say? I’m saying that this team has to move on. We’ve gotta get back to what we do best and if you can’t handle that, then you know, there’s the door."

Okay, maybe Nick is starting to get back into my good graces again – slowly. But really, George, what’s up with that hair?

Oh, and was there really any suspense about Nick leaving, since we already know that George has renewed for another season? Oy.

On a final note, seeing Craig Scheffer in the episode makes me want to get out my dvd of "The Program" and rewatch.


Here are some caps of the "highlights" (and I use that term loosely)

Tuesday This N That

Happy May Day!

Wow. Things have really been quiet lately, haven't they?

It seems strange that we went through the last half of April with a lot of the network shows bringing us reruns. What's up with that? Now that we've moved to May, it's time to get down to the final few episodes leading to season finales.

NCIS is on tonight, with just two more weeks left of the season after tonight. It was great to see that David McCallum has re-signed for two more years as Ducky. It would be hard to imagine the show without him & his bow ties.

On a sad note, this Friday marks the end of the wild & snarky adventures of Mary & Marshall on In Plain Sight. I'm still not sure how I feel about the show ending. On one hand, I'll miss the Mary/Marshall fun. On the other hand, I haven't been fond of the whole baby situation that was written in this season.

Last week's Fairly Legal episode was one of the best of the series so far. I love the episodes that have Kate & Lauren working together. This one was good because the two aren't as snarky with each other as they were in season 1. They've thankfully smoothed both of the characters' rough edges a bit, which has been nice. As for the other part of the story, the Justin/Ben 'bromace' was kind of cute, but I don't think I'd want that on a regular basis. However, if the 'bromance' brings me more Kate/Lauren, I'll take it.

It was interesting to hear Amanda Tapping's comments from last weekend's Calgary Con about how Sanctuary isn't dead -- "It's not that Sanctuary is dead but it's just lying there with its eyes closed & you can see its chest rising and falling". At least that gives me a little tiny bit of a reason to hold out hope.

Looking ahead to summer shows:
They've been promoting the reboot of Dallas for the past year, and it's getting kind of annoying.

I have a feeling that it's going to be quite overhyped (as most things are these days). The only thing it's really got going for it is the return of some of the originals, and the cute young'uns to bring in the tweenies.


Speaking of cute -
The new issue of People featured the 'beautiful ladies' edition. It was great to see some of my faves, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Lorraine Bracco, Morena Baccarin, Sheryl Crow & Dana Delany.