Saturday, March 29, 2008

Weekend Top Ten: BSG Moments

Allie and I have been insanely busy, so unfortunately we didn't make the usual Tuesday Top Ten this week. But that's OK, because now we can start preparing for a week of Battlestar Galactica coverage heading into its fourth-season premiere on Friday night. Allie and I are both huge fans, so needless to say, it has been a difficult year without Lee, Starbuck, Laura, and Tigh on our TV screens. Like I did for Lost before its long-awaited return, here are my ten favorite BSG moments of all-time. (With help from a couple of BSG-fan friends, Jeremiah and Julie) One thing we noticed is that unlike Lost, which produces tons of great "moments," BSG produces great episodes. For example, any BSG fan can tell you that '33' is one of, if not the best, episode of the series. But it doesn't have any stand-out "moments," it's just a fantastic all-around episode.


Honorable mentions: Death of Pegasus (Exodus, Pt. II), Six snaps the baby's neck on Caprica (Miniseries), "I miss you." "I miss you too." Kara & Lee have a boxing match (Unfinished Business), Lee (almost!) drops his towel (Final Cut) -- Yeah, I'm shallow, and Jamie Bamber is gorgeous. So what?


10) "As of this moment, we are at war." (Miniseries.) The culmination of everything the audience has seen from the opening shots, and the 45-minute build-up to the declaration of war builds tension slowly and carefully all the way to Adama's speech to his ship.

9) Pegasus appears on the dradis. (Pegasus) Another battlestar! More colonials! Before we found out that Cain was a murdering bitch, the sight of another surviving ship lifted everyone's spirits.

8) Opening the Tomb of Athena. (Home, Pt. II) The moment when Kara realizes that they're all standing on Earth, surrounded by what we know as the Zodiac symbols, made everyone -- including Admiral Adama -- believe that they might actually get to earth one day.

7) The Cylons find New Caprica. (Lay Down Your Burdens, Pt. II) This is a season finale to beat all other season finales. But the sight of the centurions marching through rows of colonialists remains my lasting image of the episode. "Fight 'em 'til we can't," says Kara. So say we all.




6) The Blackbird is named Laura. (Flight of the Phoenix) As my (very manly) friend Jeremiah said, this was the moment that even men would cry at.

5) "I'll see you on the other side." (Maelstrom) Kara says good-bye to Lee. And the entire audience says "NOOOOOO!"

4) "All Along the Watchtower." (Crossroads, Pt. II)

3) Boomer shoots Adama. (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Pt. II) We all knew Boomer's programming would kick in eventually, but did it have to right after the successful destruction of the Cylon basestar? I mean, sending us off into the long wait between seasons one and two was very, very cruel when we knew that approximately half of Commander Adama's blood had already been spilt on the table in CIC. Thank the gods the Old Man recovered before Tigh ran the fleet into the ground.



2) "I've been to earth. I know where it is. And I'm going to take us there." (Crossroads, Pt. II) From a personal standpoint, the shrieking started with the reveal of the four cylons, increased when Starbuck appeared, and then crested with the spiral pull-back to our Earth.

1) Galactica jumps into New Caprica's atmosphere. (Exodus, Pt. II) Could it be anything else? Someone on televisionwithoutpity.com called it Adama's "Psychotic Act of Badassery." I think that sums it up perfectly. It also won the BSG team a visual-effects team an Emmy for this episode.

Only six days to go! And The Office is back a week later! I'm so glad my shows are coming back.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Oh, man. HAAAAATE.

There's a lot of hate in me right now. There are four things that I like about American Idol this year: Simon, Chikezie, David A., and Brooke. Trying to figure out if Jason and Paula share drugs is just a bonus.

Tonight, "America" (a.k.a. the "Idol"-voting public) took one of those things away from me. And I am very, very angry at it. But first, let's start from the beginning.

Ryan's getting really into this whole "stool vs. sofa" thing. Chikezie's out first -- Bottom 3. Expected, I guess.

Brooke is safe! Carly talks about her (non)pregnancy, and then Seacrest tells her she's safe. David Archuleta explains last night's stage-bouncing by saying, "I had fun and maybe I got carried away." He is exceedingly adorable and also safe. My ears can't take the high-pitched shrieking.

Ryan heads off any controversy by saying that he spoke to Chris Connell, the artist whose cover of "Billie Jean" David Cook ripped off/performed last night, and Connell loved the performance. Whatever. Anyway, the other David is safe.

Syesha is in the bottom three again. Guess I'm not the only one to find her boring.

Michael Johns is safe.

How does Ramiele keep escaping the bottom three? It boggles the mind. Anyway, she's safe.

Kristy and Jason for the last spot in the B3, and....Kristy is safe. Of course she is. Just...ugh.

Jason is in the B3 for like 5 seconds before Ryan tells him he's safe.

And then...and then, Simon utters the single stupidest line ever said on this television show, and that is saying A LOT. He actually says, "Don't underestimate how smart the people are that watch this show."




Wait for it...




......wait for it......





Excuse me...what? These are the people who elevated Nikki McKibbon into third place in season one over Tamyra Grey. In season two, COREY CLARK was a member of the top 12, thanks to the vote of America. Season three? Your final three: Fantasia Barrino, Diana DeGarmo, and Jasmine Trias. Oh, and John Stevens was in the Top 6. Enough said. Season 4 introduced us to Constantine, the single creepiest man this side of Charles Manson, and Scott Savol made the Top 5. Taylor Hicks won season 5. TAYLOR HICKS. And what did Season 6 contribute to our culture? Oh, you know, just Sanjaya and his ponyhawk.

How exactly do you underestimate the intelligence of the American Idol viewer? Please, enlighten me.

Anyway, Chikezie gets eliminated and it sucks. I hate this show.

Quickie Recap: American Idol Top 10

Trying to get this in right before the elimination show begins...

At work today, one of the women who I always talk about the show with described last night's show as "full of fantastic performances." I was like, "ehhhhh," and she jumped all over me. "What about the rocker?"

"Wellllll...."

"Oh, he was awesome, and Syesha! She was fantastic!"

"Actually, she bores me."

"What?!?!?"

And on it went. I was underwhelmed by AI's Top Ten, and found absolutely nothing worth writing home about, starting with Ramiele. Heart's "Alone?" Are you kidding me? That is Carrie's song, and she's dead before she even begins. She digs her grave deeper by blowing notes, letting the background singers overpower her, and shouting too much.

She was followed by Jason Castro, back with his guitar, and doing the same thing as the two weeks before. John Mayer does this better. Jack Johnson does this better. The annoying guys in my dorm sophomore year did it better. Next!

Syesha does an UNHOLY baby cry during her clip package. Good Lord, that was terrifying. As noted above, I find her deadly broing, even though I think she sang this very well.

Speaking of deadly boring, Chikezie! Lets me down by singing a ballad and totally toning down everything that I love about him. Paula comes out of her drug-induced haze long enough to make an intelligent comment, which is that Chikezie has so many geat textures to his voice. So true, and I just hope he can make it through this week so we can hear more of them.

Brooke returns to her piano for "Every Breath You Take," and puts on a really cool performance. The judges knocked the second half of the song and its arrangement, but I think Brooke has found a niche that she excels in. It's kind of a Vanessa Carlton/Norah Jones-type thing, but I would buy that CD.

Michael Johns (CUT YOUR HAIR) sings a very strange Queen mash-up, and gets all sorts of crazy lighting to go with his ROCK SONG. I put it in caps because he's clearly trying to prove that he can do all sorts of things, and ROCK is one of them. Overall, it's not terrible.

Carly is terrible. She way over-sings "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and I think her trip into the bottom three last week increased her desperation into palpable levels, and it's definitely showing on screen. Yikes.

David Archuleta sings the cheesiest Up-With-People song this side of "We Are the World," and that was a poor choice. He's already cute enough to be a singing stuffed animal, so singing songs about finding your voice and singing out and bopping around while you do so probably don't detract from that image. He sings it well, of course, but still.

Kristy sings "God Bless the U.S.A." Aaaand keeping with the no-profanity rule we have on this blog, that's all I have to say about that.

David Cook sings a rock version of "Billie Jean." I think he does a good job of sticking with his schtick, but how many more weeks until it gets old? I enjoyed it more than most.

Elimination is beginning now. I think Ramiele finally goes, with Kristy and Chikezie joining the bottom three.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Dancing With the Stars, Week 2

The Mambo & The Quickstep

Now that each couple has tackled a Latin dance and a ballroom dance, we're starting to see a real divide between the contenders and the pretenders, with a few couples yet to find a designation.

Pretending: Monica Seles is terrible. She's very nice and all, but she clearly has no natural rhythm and it's painful to watch. The mambo is better than last week's foxtrot, but not by much.

Penn Jillette is terrible and annoying, which might be worse. His quickstep was more clomping than dancing and then he wouldn't shut up when the judges tried to critique him.

Adam Carolla seems to try a bit harder this week, but though I love Julianne's mambo choreography, he's still bad. And then Bruno gives him an 8? Wha?!?!

Contending: Shannon moves into a contender position this week on the strength of her quickstep. Derek is doing a great job with her, and I think she's gaining confidence.

Jason Taylor is fantastic. His mambo is incredible, he's charismatic, and, oh yeah, he's sexy as all get out. The judges go (rightly) nuts for it and he's rewarded with a 27.

Marlee does it again this week, this time with a quickstep. The judges rightly compliment her musicality. She's definitely hanging around for awhile.

Kristi and Mario keep their front-runner statuses, Kristi on the strength of her mambo and Mario with his quickstep. This competition is still Kristi's to lose, in my opinion.

Still deciding: I know Steve Guttenberg isn't the greatest dancer, and his mambo wasn't anything to write home about, but he's so gosh-darn endearing that you almost don't care...almost. He's certainly willing to give his all for every dance and looks like he's having fun doing it, but he's not good.

Cristian and Cheryl's quickstep seemed a bit off, and though he's towards the upper end of the talent pool here, something's missing, and I don't know if he's totally connecting with the audience. I feel very 'wait and see' about him, and I think he's still headed for a middle-round exit.

I know Priscilla did a good job last week, and was pretty good again this week, but seriously, I just cannot get past the whole face thing. When she did that stupid tiger crawl on the floor, I almost peed myself in fright.

Marissa...starts crying when she talks about last week?? And then comes out and does an okay quickstep, but I'm with Carrie Ann, I was hoping for more from her. Also, I was really distrcted by her perma-smile -- maybe relax it every once in a while?

Elimination info will be up shortly: I've still got to sit through American Idol. Blech.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Go "Greek"



The ABC Family original series “Greek” returned tonight, and although I have absolutely no interest in my own college’s Greek system, I am hooked on the dating, drinking, and drama going on at Cyprus-Rhodes University.

It’s a fresh semester at CRU, but each “Greek” is haunted by the events of last semester. Sorority sweetheart, Casey, and her adorably dorky brother, Rusty, both struggle get over their exes. Rusty wallows over an electronic shrine to Jen K., but finally decides to move on after learning she made a very quick move to a new guy. Casey has the world’s most awkward conversation with her ex, Evan, but uncomfortable small talk is the least of her problems.

Casey and the sisters of ZBZ are saddled with an overly perky, hug-friendly sorority liaison, who will report their every move to the national chapter. In an attempt to redeem ZBZ from their public shame and pariah status – Jen K. wrote an article about them last semester that was not flattering – Casey throws a Greek charity carnival and hosts a ZBZ kissing both. But no one is puckering up, and it’s not just because of the Amish-frump outfits the liaison mandated. The ZBZs have been officially shunned.

Cappie, the Kappa Tau president and Casey’s ex, saves the day by rallying his brothers to visit the ZBZ kissing booth. But his knight-in-shining-armor act may not be for Casey – Cappie is currently hooking up with Casey’s nemesis Rebecca Logan. It’s Casey that he smooches at the booth, though, which leads her ex Evan to publicly humiliate her by stripping her of her Queen Bee title.

Sound confusing? It’s tough to keep up with all the hook-ups and break-ups of college Greek life, but this show makes it fun. “Greek” doesn’t take itself too seriously, which makes it a great guilty pleasure show. I have also become invested in the characters. I’m rooting for Casey and Cappie to reunite – their chemistry is undeniable – and Rusty is so endearing that I love watching everything he does. I am looking forward to how this season unfolds.

Photo: TVguide.com