Assorted TV notes
A few thoughts and items re TV stuff:
- Glad to hear the WGA strike seems likely to end tomorrow.
- Have now watched a couple of episodes of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and am really liking it so far. It certainly has flaws (and it's not going to replace BSG or Dr. Who at the top of my list anytime soon), but it keeps providing surprises and nice emotional moments. I'm not sure yet how I feel about it taking place in a different timeline from T3; unlike many other people, I liked T3. But I like the characters and the writing so far, and I like the actors (I like Thomas Dekker (Zach from Heroes) and Summer Glau (River from Firefly) in this much more than I've liked them in other things), and I like that it's continuing the tradition of the Terminator movies' examination of questions of destiny vs. free will.
- I had decided, after season 1, to give up on Torchwood, but then Wendy told me about a particular irresistible guest star who's going to appear in it, so I've been recording it. And I watched the first episode the other day, and though it was full of huge plot and character holes, it was a lot of fun. And I kept looking at Capt. John and saying "He looks like Spike crossed with someone or other, I wonder who the actor is," only to have Kam tell me later that in fact it was James (Spike) Marsters. He's not quite as hot in this as he was in Buffy, but he still has great cheekbones, and watching him with Capt. Jack was delightful, even if it was some of the most blatant fanservice I've ever seen.
- I've been taping some of the complete Jane Austen series on PBS. Watched their Persuasion the other night--I wasn't expecting to actually watch the whole thing (I'd heard bad things about it), so didn't want to watch it with someone else and have to negotiate whether it was okay to stop in the middle or not. It turned out to be just barely interesting enough to keep me from shutting it off, but it was a near thing. But I'm looking forward to their Northanger Abbey, which from the preview looks entertainingly (and appropriately) over-the-top.
- Wondering when/whether your favorite shows will return to TV, assuming the strike is called off tomorrow as expected? See the broadcast TV list and the cable TV list. In particular, according to info collated from both of those pages, BSG will air the first half of season 4 (ten episodes) starting April 4. Comments on the first list indicate that the second half of season 4 may not air for another year (!); I'm hoping that's not true. . . . Oh, and here's another, more detailed, broadcast TV list. Note that there'll be no more Heroes 'til the fall.