Friday, September 25, 2009

Sort of Geek Related

As I would say the Patrick Swayze movies "Point Break" and "Roadhouse" fall firmly into geekdom, this article caught my eye. I've linked the Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait, before but I think any explanation of his article by me would be pointless. Just read it and be disgusted (not by Phil Plait, of course).


Friday, September 18, 2009

Community Series Premier Review

I'm a bit torn about this series, given the severely limited sample size I have to go on after only one episode. I think Joel McHale is one of the funniest people in the world right now, and despite some recent failing, Chevy Chase still has fantastic comedic chops. But as a whole, the series is still a bit of a mystery to me.

Let's start with the good. Neither McHale nor Chase disappointed in their Community debuts. Their timing was spot on, and I get the feeling scenes between these two will be hilarious in future episodes.

The pleasant surprise of this show was the work done by John Oliver. I think he is probably the best Daily Show correspondent since Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert, but I had serious doubts about his ability to transfer those talents to a more traditional sitcom setting. My doubts were clearly unfounded. Oliver absolutely stole the first episode, and was far and away the funniest actor during the first 30 minutes of this series.

The biggest gripe I had with the episode was the lack of interaction between much of the characters. This is a problem that many series face in their first episode, but it was particularly glaring in Community. The study group scenes didn't feel like a group of people interacting, but more like 7 individual actors speaking to pretty much nobody.

Also, the character who spoke to quickly simply wasn't funny. Not only was it a bad shtick, but it's been used far too many times before. Hopefully they tweak that character a bit, and at least tone him down slightly.

All in all this series certainly has potential. I sincerely hope they make a few minor tweaks as the show goes forward, it could be one of NBC's surprise hits this fall.

2 out of 5

Office Review- "Gossip"

Last night The Office's sixth season premiered on NBC. The episode is a bit of a departure from prior Office premiers, and certainly succeeded where its predecessors had stumbled.

In prior season finales, The Office usually left its fans with some sort of cliffhanger (Jim kissing Pam, the failed proposal, I could go on and on). However, last season's finale really didn't do that to the extent previously found with this series. Any fan with half a brain could tell that the big surprise in last season's finale was the Jim and Pam pregnancy (Side note: I'm starting to get tired of the JAM centric story lines on this show), but really didn't leave the fans wondering about what was next. This left the possibilities for the premier wide open.

And the writers absolutely delivered. The episode dealt a lot with the inner workings of Scranton branch, something that had somewhat fallen to the wayside last season. Secondly, this episode was the triumphant return of Michael centered storytelling. It's always fun to explore Michael's need to be included, as this episode did, and the incredibly stupid lengths he takes to achieve these goals.

The only problem I have with this episode is that most of the comedy consisted of quick-hit one liners. They were certainly funny, but I generally prefer the situational humor that The Office has utilized so well.

In all this was a worthy start to what should be a fantastic season of the best show on TV.

4.5 out of 5

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The long dry summer is almost over...

Yes, my small yet loyal group of readers, the end is in sight! New episodes of The Office begin this Thursday, along with one of the new shows I will be reviewing, Community. Then the next week The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother will also be returning. Sadly we'll have to wait until January for the start of Chuck (read: NBC trying to starve the show to cancellation), but as for me I'm just glad to be interacting with all of you yet again!

P.S. Look for my review of the "Star Trek" BluRay around Christmas time, I've received several e-mails as to when that will be hitting the blog, but I just plain don't have the cash to buy it myself (when it comes out in November) and will need to beg somebody to give it to me as a gift.