Bad day for showrunners

Both Rob Thomas and David Greenwalt have stepped down as showrunners for their fall shows (Miss/Guided and Moonlight, respectively). Thomas' decision was supposedly because of "creative differences" while Greenwalt's was due to health issues. I'll probably still watch Moonlight, as long as Jason Dohring is in it, but I don't hold out much hope that it'll be good (poor JD). And since Rob Thomas was the only reason I was mildly interested in M/G, I probably won't bother with that one. Can't we just bring back Veronica Mars and Angel? We'd all be happier.

So, did you hear I'm going to Bermuda?

T minus four days to cruising! Who's excited?? Okay, probably just me and Kelly, but that's cool. I'll send you postcards from Bermuda. If I'm not too busy drinking rum.

I've already mentally checked out (I've been on vacation since at least last week), but fortunately, there's not a lot of work to do here, so that's okay.

Did anyone else watch Saving Grace on Monday night? I wasn't really impressed with it, but fortunately, James Marsters is guest starring in the second episode, so I won't have to watch past that. Of course, I'll be in Bermuda next week (yay!) so I'll have to set the VCR.

This year is the 20th anniversary of the Princess Bride movie, so it's the perfect time to check out how bad the cast looks now. I mean, seriously... ouch. I don't think even a nice, regenerative vacation (in Bermuda!) can save some of them. Especially Andre the Giant, 'cause he's, you know, dead.

Speaking of dead, this is morbid, but cool - wanna know how much your cadaver is worth? Mine is worth $3975... so, if I should happen to die in a freak kayaking incident in Bermuda - Kelly, save my body! It'll more than pay for the trip!

David Greenwalt is trying to convince people that Moonlight is not Angel. How so? Because it's funny and the vampires can go out in sunlight. Um, not really convincing me here, Dave. I do love that his initial reaction to the script was, "Not only am I not going to read this, I'm going to sue them. This is my show." At least he's honest.

And finally, my personal DNA report tells me that I am a concerned dreamer. Well, okay. Right now I'm dreaming about (wait for it) Bermuda... but I don't think I'm concerned about it.

Drive Wrap-up

The final two episodes of Drive are now up on Fox's MySpace page, which for some reason, never seems to work for me (the video's always all jumpy and freezy). You can also read the shooting scripts for those two episodes, which is less fun than watching TV, but better than nothing if you're looking for answers, I guess. Tim Minear also offered some answers on what would've happened if the show had continued. No, he doesn't say who wins the race. I'm not sure how I feel about the planned story arcs. Maybe it would've worked better on screen than the descriptions indicate, or maybe I would've just lost interest. Either way, I will miss Nathan Fillion's pretty face on my TV. Guess I'll just have to watch Desperate Housewives...

Forget I said anything...

Okay, remember how, a few hours ago, I told you to watch Drive on Friday?

Pretend I didn't say that.

For reasons I cannot understand (except that it's Fox and Fox sucks), they've decided NOT to air the final two episodes. Maybe they'll end up online eventually (which I can't watch, because Fox's online episodes suck almost as much as their programming decisions), or - less likely - the series, the whole whopping 6 episodes of it, will be released on DVD.

But I'm sure this will distract/cheer you up: James Marsters talks about his role on Torchwood. And, um... wow. I just have one question - what exactly is an "omnisexual"?

Working for free

Okay, it's official now. We have no budget, and the government is partially shut down. Which means I still have to go to work, but I don't get paid until they pass the budget. Whee!

So, get your VCRs in gear (or Tivos, if you have them, but then I'll hate you) - this Friday is the last two episodes of Drive (for those of you who seek closure, but watch futilely, knowing that you're only going to be left with more questions) AND the season 2 premiere of Psych. I am, well, psyched. Psych is on at 10pm on USA... Drive is on Fox, I'm guessing from 8-10pm, but I could be wrong.

Other TV to look out for... Saving Grace debuts in two weeks on TNT. I have no idea what this show is about, except that Holly Hunter stars in it (and I really have no idea who she is). So, why should you watch it? Because everyone's favorite singing vampire, James Marsters, is guest starring in the second episode (and possibly more)! And we all know I'd watch JM watching paint dry (I bet he'd stare at it and be really intense... wouldn't that be hot?), so that's really all I need to hear to become an instant fan. (And yet, I still won't watch Smallville...)

Also, if you watched The Nine, the remaining episodes are being burned off starting August 1st. Like Drive, there will be no closure at the end of the run, and possibly more questions than answers. But it's not like there's much else on TV in the summer.

Nathan Fillion is possibly going to be on Desperate Housewives next season. I've only watched DH a couple times (usually because my mother was watching it), and even though I found it funny, it never compelled me to actually watch it regularly, so it remains to be seen whether Nathan is enough of a draw.

Looking ahead, here's an article about Pushing Daisies, the new fall show from the creator of one of Becky's favorite shows, Dead Like Me. It kinda looks interesting, doesn't it?

Here's something fun and politicky (what do you mean those words only go together when it's me?) - not sure who you should vote for in the next Presidential election? This quiz will tell you which candidates are closest to your positions. Is it a surprise to anyone that my top result was a tie between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, both at 63% compatibility with me? (Are we dating?) Of course, that does nothing to help me decide between them. More worrisome, perhaps, is that the number 3 match was Dennis Kucinich. Leprechauns for President!

My new TV obsession

In the absence of good summer TV, I've been renting a crapload of DVDs (yay, Blockbuster online!). Speaking of which, here's a funny article about how Netflix ruins relationships. Good thing I'm single.

Anyway, I've been watching a lot of TV on DVD lately - I worked my way through Firefly, and now I'm watching Bones. Also in my queue: The Office, Battlestar Galactica, Entourage, Hex, House, Arrested Development, Rescue Me, and Weeds. But today I want to talk about a ridiculously funny little show called Psych.

The second season premieres July 13th on USA, so run out and rent the season 1 DVDs right now! You'll want to be caught up. It's about two guys who run a private detective agency... one of whom pretends to be a psychic. He actually solves crimes by being super-observant of evidence and having a photographic memory or something, but for some reason, the police department didn't believe him when he reported crimes, and it's somehow more believable when he tells them he's a psychic. (I know... I was skeptical, too, but there's a scene in the first episode that will totally convince you.) Anyway, it's so off the wall, it's hilarious at times. The plots can be a little repetitive, but you'll be laughing too hard you won't care. James Roday (Shawn the fake psychic) is great at physical comedy, and he and Dule Hill (Gus the straight man sidekick... formerly Charlie from The West Wing!! And you know how I love all things West Wing) play off each other really well. So, uh, go watch it! Now. What are you waiting for? Do you need to be tempted? Okay, fine:

Gus: You named your fake detective agency Psych? Why didn't you just call it "hey we're fooling you and the police department; hope we don't make a mistake and somebody dies because of it."
Shawn: First of all, Gus, that name is entirely too long; it would never fit on the window. And secondly the best way you convince people you're not lying to them is to tell them you are!

Oh, do the tongue thing again...

So, for those of you who aren't Becky and Kelly, the three of us had a wee little road trip on Saturday to Farmingdale, NY, to see James Marsters in concert at the Crazy Donkey. The trip was great - with the exception of the unbelievable traffic jam that turned a four hour drive into an eight hour hellish nightmare. But we managed to keep ourselves entertained by playing the license plate game (32 states, 2 Canadian provinces, Washington DC, and diplomat plates), watching a skywriter, singing along to Once More With Feeling, eating a record number of Dunkin Donuts munchkins, and observing road rage in action. (Seriously, who parks their car on the shoulder in order to climb onto a truck and yell at the truck driver for not allowing you to illegally pass him on the shoulder?? And I still say we should've hit that motorcyclist that cut us off at the toll booth.)

Due to the massive unexpected delays, we ended up missing the first show, but we did get there in time for the later show (and big thanks to Lauren for making sure we could switch our tickets! I *heart* her... but not as much as I *heart* James, of course). Lauren, FYI, is an online friend of mine... there were a lot of people there from the BSV, but I didn't spend much time with most of them, due to the 8-hour drive and having real friends there. You can read Lauren's blog entry if you want to hear her perspective. She also has some pictures (mostly of the people she was with).

James is adorable in concert - but then, he's adorable in everything, so why should this be different? I think the best part of the show is just watching his facial expressions while he sings. The music was good, but honestly, not why people go... and he pretty much knows it. "I'm a whore, but I'm a high-class whore," I believe were his exact words. He has an interesting combination of knowing he's sexy and playing it up (what was that he said about the energy of an impending orgy? And, more importantly, how do I get in on it?), but also being really sweet and humble about it. He was joking about it going to his head, but you can kind of tell from the way he talks about it that he's pretty well grounded. Loved when he said, "Can I take you home to show my kids?" Um, let me think... yes, James, you can. You can take me home and do whatever you want with me...

Hmm, what else? He refused to sing Rest in Peace (claiming, "I don't do covers... get Joss to sing it," but if you've seen the reports from Collectormania, you know it's because he can't remember it). He looked hot, as always (though that was an awful lot of shiny around his neck...) - that is a pretty, pretty man. We only saw one Spike wannabe (disappointing), but the Spangel license plate in the parking lot made me giggle. That's some serious fan dedication.

I was manning Becky's camera ('cause I'm dumb and left the batteries at home for my camera), and I checked out Kelly's pictures on Sunday - we didn't get many good ones because the lighting was terrible during the second show. I think a spotlight was out, and poor James looks like a red, glowy devil man in almost all of them. I'm told it was better for the first show, so I'm snagging pics from other people who were there. RavenU always has good pics - these are from both the Fangoria convention Friday/Sunday and the Saturday concert. Seriously, the man makes some hilarious faces.

We didn't wait around for him to come out afterwards - when we left, the limo was still parked outside and people were congregating. He couldn't have hung around that long, since we went to the next light and made a U-turn, and by the time we drove past the club on the way back, the limo was gone. I hear that he was back in his hotel in Secaucus before most of the concert-goers, so it seems like he made a pretty speedy exit, in order to get some sleep. After the convention events on Sunday, he had to fly out to England, since he's filming Torchwood (the Dr. Who spin-off) in Wales.

And as a wrap-up, quotes from the car:
"I think I like Kelly more than I like me right now." - Becky
"Oh, we should be nice and let those people merge in front of us. I feel bad for them." - Kelly, hour 2
"Don't let them in! Don't let them in! Cut them off if you have to!" - Kelly, hour 7
"I died. We got hit by a truck and we died, and this is hell. It's the only explanation." - me
"OMG! Going 50 mph is so much better than sex!" - Becky
"Maybe I should stop gesturing to people out the window..." - Kelly

Dammit. Now I'll have to watch it.

Remember a while ago, I mentioned that a pilot was being picked up next season called "Moonlight," which sounded an awful lot like a retread of Angel - vampire detective, in love with a mortal human woman. Then, it got even Angelier when David Greenwalt (exec. producer for Angel) signed on as showrunner. At first, I was dead set against it... but when Greenwalt's name got attached, I thought, "Maybe he'll actually make it good."

Well, now I've definitely got a reason to watch it: Logan Echolls as a vampire.

Jason Dohring (the "Lo" of our Veronica Mars LoVe) will be playing an "ancient" vampire... who's also "a young, mischievous hedge-fund trader"? Um, okay. Aw, what the hell? It's Jason Dohring. I'd watch him watching paint dry.

In other news - this of the canceled series variety - fans of Drive take note: Fox is NOT airing the last two episodes on the 4th of July. They're airing them on Friday, July 13th, instead. I'm not sure if that's better or worse. The troubling part, though, is that, although they're calling it the "season finale," I suspect there will be nothing final about it. We're probably still going to be left in the middle of the story, since it's unlikely they resolved it in only six episodes (that wouldn't be much of a series). But it's Nathan Fillion, so I'll watch whatever they give me. Also, I'm kinda hooked now.