You might notice an odd phenomenon the next few months on Friday nights: frequent posting. Instead of enjoying a full-body, flavorful beer or relaxing with a nice scotch, we’re forsaking a Friday night social life. We’ll probably be throwing a few posts here or there to kill sometime. Not because we love you or are dedicated to our small little blog, but because there is gonna be a lot of good TV on. Here are the four reasons that our posting numbers may go up (or be nonexistent) on Friday nights, and your editors’ take (ha! Editors make us sound professional).
Reason 4: Dollhouse
February 13 at 9 PM on FOX
Eliza Dushku plays a young woman named Echo, a Doll, who is leased out for a variety of totally legal activities: crimes, fantasies and occasionally they do something nice &emdash; for free! We love probono work. Tahmoh Penikett also stars as a deft FBI agent who is chasing the “dollhouse” myth, he’s Helo from Battlestar Galactica, the only reason this sentence exists.
Drew’s Take: After Firefly, Joss Whedon is my hero. After Firefly, FOX is my enemy. Dollhouse brings back the dynamic duo so we can play “How Long Until It Gets Cancelled!” I have it down for 4-6 episodes. There are already reports of production woes, including a new first episode being filmed (man, that sounds familiar), rewrites and retooling. Sure, it’s probably time to panic, but the concept of this show in the hand of Joss Whedon gives me chills, goosebumps, warm fuzzy feelings and all that other stuff. A woman whose mind is erased and reprogrammed for every mission? If Whedon wasn’t such a raging feminist, I’d be worried, but the whole potential for social commentary is endless.
Sean’s Take: Any new Sci-Fi take by Joss Whedon will immediately get me interested. This and J.J. Abram’s Fringe are part of FOX’s new “Remote-Free TV”. Although I admit I have yet to even watch Fringe, Dollhouse will be one show I will definitely be watching, eyes glued to the television. Tim Minear will be lending his writing talents to the show, for any of you wondering, Minear is well-versed in Sci-Fi TV show writings, working on The X-Files, Angel, Firefly (writing one of the best episodes, Out Of Gas), and a little known guilty pleasure show named Strange World. However, I can’t help but fear for Dollhouse. Sci-Fi shows have a notoriously short life span on broadcast cable, with the obvious exception of The X Files and the Star Trek series. Coupled with the fate of Firefly, I have serious doubts about how much of Dollhouse we will actually see. Supposedly the “new first episode” was Whedon’s choice, but I don’t trust broadcast cable, let alone FOX, to make the right choice by their viewers. Seeing how the Dollhouse has already been given the less than coveted death slot, hope is fading fast. We’ll see, but I can only hope that Dollhouse is every bit Firefly was, although by a different measure, of course.
Reason 3: Psych
January 9 at 10 PM on USA
Shawn Spencer isn’t really lazy, just one of those guys who only does something if it’s much more complicated than it needs to be. Hence, the entire sham of being a psychic detective solving crimes with Gus.
Drew’s Take: Yeah, logically, the fact that Shawn can still pull of the psychic sham is a little odd, but it doesn’t matter. This is all about the interaction between Shawn and Gus. The show is absurdly hilarious and too much fun to watch. Seriously, I live for the case solving fist pound.
Sean’s Take: I’ve watched Psych from the very first episode. It was nice seeing Dulé Hill onscreen again (Oh The West Wing how we miss you), but it’s now one of my favorite shows. With the unfortunate but not surprising demise of Pushing Daisies, Psych is the last whimsical show. It doesn’t take itself seriously, so you can’t either, you just watch and laugh, enjoying the chemistry of Shawn and Gus. The cases are anything but difficult for you at home to solve, but again, Psych is about idiosyncrasies and free spirited-ness.
Reason 2: Burn Notice
January 22 at 10 PM on USA
Michael Westen kicks ass.
Drew’s Take: So yeah, this really is a Thursday show and not Friday; but everybody is extremely well dressed on this show and Michael Westen provides equal parts life lessons and intelligence techniques in his monologues. Sure, okay, it’s basically a procedural cop show with spies, but the spy angle is cool. The freeze frames, split screens and suave color scheme of Miami’s beaches keep the show looking fresh (even if it’s nothing new) and energetic.
Sean’s Take: Sexy, fashionable, slick. Sensual, anything but bashful. I’ve seen my fair share of the procedural cop shows, but show is just awesome. Jeffery Donovan’s sarcastic smiles and cleverly delivered remarks are paired with his characters knowledge on the intelligence business. It’s not exactly the most character driven show, especially on this list, but you still connect with them.
Reason 1: Battlestar Galactica
January 16 at 10 PM on SciFi
The Cylons blitzkrieg the frack out of the 12 colonies and chase the remnants out of humanity as they try to find Earth. Sex, violence and alcoholism guest star.
Drew’s Take: I did a massive marathon of seasons 1-3 in two weeks to experience season 4 as it unfolded. Really dumb move, 9 months is to frackin’ long to wait for the conclusion. I can’t imagine enduring this for 5 years, seriously, what a horrible way to live. I’m having panic attacks just waiting for the final cylon to show up, figuring out what HeadSix really is, what’s going on with Starbuck, what happened to Earth, will Gaeta be gay on TV, Dualla do something (seriously, anything)? How did people survive this ride?
Sean’s Take: I joined in on this frakking (the correct spelling, technically, all though we prefer frack, it looks better) roller coaster of a ride in the middle of season 2. Let me tell you, Pegasus is a great episode, and being the mid season finale, the wait was to much to handle.. Soon enough I was struck with BSG fever. I just couldn’t get enough! I quickly caught up and I’ve been diligently watching ever since. I rarely miss a first-run episode now. Every finale just reaffirms my love for this show. Battlestar is Science Fiction at its finest, truly, it’s pretty much art. The writing, the characters, the music, the direction, everything. I could write a post just on those alone. Not only is it Science Fiction at its finest, it’s one of the few things the Sci-Fi Channel has ever done right. I have so many questions that I’m just dying to find out the answers to…I’m like a LOST fanboy, but for a show that’s worth watching.
Also, stay tuned for more news on Caprica, the spin-off prequel to BSG. Not something we’re jumping up and down in excitement for, but we’ll see where they take it.
