James Marsters or Frog-Faced Guy?
Jan 10A (paraphrased) conversation between me (Sarah) and my friend (Other Sarah).
Other Sarah: Sarah, will you please look at this photo? Someone is trying to tell me that it’s John Barrowman kissing James Marsters, but I don’t think it’s James Marsters!
Sarah: I don’t know, that looks like Marsters to me! Very…Marsters-y.
Other Sarah: Really? Because I think it’s the other guy on Torchwood, the Frog-Faced Guy. Do you know who I mean?
Sarah: Yes, yes…actually, I can also see how it would be the Frog-Faced Guy. But the nose…the nose is saying Marsters!
Other Sarah: See, actually, I thought the nose was what made it not Marsters.
Sarah: But the nose is all squished up against John Barrowman. (gestures) See?
Other Sarah: I can see that, but I still think it looks more like John Barrowman kissing the Frog-Faced Guy, not John Barrowman kissing James Marsters. I asked the person who sent it to me if they were sure it was James Marsters, and they were like (snotty geek voice), “Yes. It is.”
Sarah: Well, then it must be. (pause) Either way, it’s very sexy, no?
Other Sarah: Oh, yes.
Random Co-worker: These are the conversations I have to listen to.
(p.s. — I still think it is, in fact, Marsters. Any other opinions?)
All I Want For Christmas Is You, David Tennant
Dec 21A friend sent me this cute Dr. Who holiday animation, but I was almost more impressed by one of the “related videos” next to it. Please watch as HogwartsHonorRoll juxtaposes images of The Doctor and Rose to the festive tones of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (a favorite holiday jam of both myself and Mr. Springer).
Blind Genre Item: Broken Bob
Dec 20Which beloved genre series supporting player was seen chowing down at delicious LA lunch spot BLD? This bemuscled buccaneer really knows how to accessorize: he was sporting an army-green jacket, an eye-catching gold bracelet…and an extremely uncomfortable-looking neck brace. Maybe he made Starbuck mad? Either that or he twisted himself in one too many knots over the shocking, season-ending twist regarding his character.
One more clue: Sarah thinks he’s cute.
Star Wars! Nothing But Star Wars!
Dec 14How have I never seen this before? The best part is the “choreography.”
Genre TV Season Report Card
Nov 29It’s been an interesting season for genre TV watchers. Lots of geekly offerings, but I don’t know that any of them have taken root in the collective nerdly consciousness like, say, Heroes or Buffy or whatever. It took me a while to assess my liking for all these series. There’s at least one that definitely has me on the Unabashed Love Train, but I don’t know that any of them mirror my very soul in the way that, like, Battlestar Galactica does. Let’s take a look whilst crossing our fingers and hoping that the writers get a good deal and the strike comes to an end.
Pushing Daisies: This is the one I mentioned up there, the Love Train honoree. Yes, it’s cute and twee, but it earns that shit. There are real emotions behind the whimsy and it all comes together to present a very specific tone, a very specific world. It’s not like Garden State, where Zach Braff’s shirt matches the wallpaper just because. These last three episodes have been particularly brilliant (casting Molly Shannon and Mike White as candy store-owning siblings? Come on!), and I feel like the show is becoming better, funnier and more cohesive with each outing. Lee Pace and Anna Friel are both majorly crush-inspiring and it’s nice that they have Chi McBride and Swoosie Kurtz around to sort of roll their eyes at the cuteness once in a while. They give Daisies‘ sweetness a nice little zing.
Reaper: I loved the pilot and I still like the show very much, but it occasionally stalls. I think Matt was right on in dubbing it “lazy early Buffy.” The humor is pretty much right up my alley, but it could use a couple tweaks. Like, they should let Andi in on all the devil stuff. She’s the one major female character and right now she’s pretty much marginalized. Do not waste Missi Peregrym like that! Also, the soul-of-the-week plots could do with a few more twists and turns. I do like that they seem to be working towards building a mythology for the show, a continuing thread. And I think it could move from a solid B to an A if it’s allowed to stick around post-strike.
Journeyman: I thought this would be lame, but you know what? It’s pretty dang good. In a season where all the semi-serialized genre shows have some sort of procedural element, this one just might be the best at balancing that with the mythology elements. I also like that there are actual consequences and real dangers built into all the time-traveling — Dan isn’t automatically OK just cause he lands back in the present. And I really like the way they play the personal drama, Dan’s dealings with both his wife and his time-traveling lost love. And Kevin McKidd is hot. Um, anyway, the one thing I would fix is all the on-the-nose stuff they do to tell you what year it is. It’s sort of like that Sarah Silverman Program episode where Sarah’s reminiscing about all her abortions and the doctor has a flannel shirt tied around his waist to indicate that it’s the early ’90s.
Bionic Woman: Sigh. Bad. I’ve given this so many chances. It’s just…not good. Morose and a little dull. Also, I know she’s new to the whole spy game, but must they make Jaime Sommers so needlessly dumb and unprofessional? Like when she requested that one guy for the mission and it was totally because she liked him and he hadn’t called her back. You never saw Sydney Bristow pulling that shit. She knew how to compartmentalize! The one bright spot is, of course, Katee Sackhoff, who is so awesome she blows everyone else off the screen. I wish the show was just about her and the Asian guy from Witchblade.
