This is why Halloween is fun

I found this video via TVSquad, and it is awesome. Gotta love Halloween pranks. My favorite part is the lady on the right, who totally runs off the set. Hee!

Happy Halloween!

Is anybody dressing up? I want to see pictures of costumes, people! I haven't had a Halloween costume since probably freshman year of college. (Trivia: I was Snow White, recycling the costume I wore my senior year of high school. I figured none of the same people would see me, so it was okay to wear the same thing two years in a row.)

In honor of Halloween, you can practice your pumpkin-carving skills here - and, unlike real pumpkins, there's a reset button if you screw up. (Every pumpkin I've ever carved has come out in desperate need of orthodontic work.) These people have way, way, way more skill than me.

And this has nothing to do with Halloween, but here's an article about Jon Bon Jovi, who is doing 10 concerts in Newark to open their new arena. Remember when I met him? :)

Heroes rant

This article asks, is Heroes suffering from a sophomore slump?

GOD, yes!

I have never been so bored by a show that I used to like. Granted, I watched season 1, like, last month, so I haven't exactly been reveling in Heroes-fandom for very long. But still. I watched it because people told me it was GOOD. I ignored my instincts, the over-hype, the sense of foreboding as the season kept stretching longer and longer (what are they up to, 26 episodes now? Plus the 6 Heroes: Origin episodes, which are getting a new name). But seriously, I am amazed at how many plot lines utterly bored me last night.

I have not and will never care about the Wonder Twins. God, just let Sylar kill them and be done with it. I've never been a Hiro fan - his plot lines always seem extraneous and unnecessary - but this 1671 jaunt is really grating on my nerves. I swear, if that doesn't somehow tie in to the present-day plot line with the Company, I'm gonna be so pissed that they wasted my time on it.

I think Matt and Mohinder are possibly the two stupidest people in the universe, and everything they do just makes me cringe. Also, the "My Two Dads" thing would be better if they'd just make out already. My only comfort is that Mohinder is probably gonna be dead soon, now that he's partnered with Niki/Jessica. (And hey! Would that mean no more annoying voice overs?) And despite the Nightmare Man being a fairly large plot development, the way they revealed it was so obvious I just rolled my eyes at Matt and Nathan for being so dumb. See? Parkman's even bringing down my man Nathan.

Speaking of Petrellis, I hate Peter's amnesia and his Irish girlfriend - Peter developed into such an awesome character last season, and they totally threw it all away. Get rid of the Irish girl, reunite the Petrelli brothers, and let's have some fun with Kristen Bell.

In fact, let's get rid of everyone else, and just have Peter, Nathan, HRG, and Claire... and Kristen Bell. She hasn't done anything remarkable yet, but she's awesome and impossibly cute so she can stay. Seriously, HRG shooting the Russian dude was the highlight of the episode. HRG's wicked cool and all, but that is kinda sad.

Even the characters I used to like are letting me down. Peter, Nathan... and Claire's relationship with West needs to end NOW. I couldn't believe she was that stupid. She's supposed to be keeping a low profile, and she and West blatantly display their powers. Sure, the cops and the cheerleaders didn't believe Debbie, but what if someone from the Company got wind of it? You don't think they'd be on that in a hot second? I'm hoping that HRG comes back soon and lays the smackdown on West. Got any bullets left in that gun?

If you're longing for the good old days, try out the Hardest Heroes Quiz Ever and test your knowledge. I scored 10 out of 12. Go me!

The Office Convention

I know Megan wanted to go to the Office convention (I'm assuming you didn't, because if you went and didn't tell me, I'll be sad!), so here's recaps and photos from Whitney at Pop Candy. Also, an LA Times blog write-up of the convention.

Added: I also found this TV Squad write-up on the convention, which I am totally including because of the totally true comments on the Northeast Extension. I've only been to Scranton once in my life, and on the way home, it was pouring rain and the car I was in (not driving - this was so not my fault) completely hydroplaned, spun around, and crashed into the median. Fun times.

I say again - watch Damages

Here's an interesting interview with the series creators of Damages. It talks about the season finale and what to expect in season 2, so I wouldn't read it unless you've seen the show - and no, I will never stop telling you to watch this show. I'm sure a DVD is in the works, and until then, you can (shhhh!) download them from tv-links (I think... my work computer won't actually let me open the page. Somebody tell me if it doesn't work).

Jack's back!

Can you tell the difference between a discontinued Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor and a band you found on MySpace? I scored 70% - purely by guessing, since I don't actually look for bands on MySpace.

Also, the new 24 trailer is up. After last season's lackluster performance, I'm having trouble getting excited about it, but I will say that this season looks to be different. I think one of the problems with last season is that they'd killed off everyone we cared about in season 5, so on the one hand, I'm a little nervous that seem to have done the same "replace the entire cast except Jack and Chloe" that they've done the past couple years. But on the other hand, I didn't really like anyone else by the end of the season anyway, and plus - did you see who's back? :) And as a bad guy, no less. That might bother me, except this is 24, which means that plot line will be resolved by episode 4 and we'll be onto something new, which will undoubtedly require the Jack-and-Tony team I so long for.

Articles of interest

A few things from the Times and the Post:

First - article on dreams! Nightmares, actually. Perhaps it can shed some light on my Office/Pippin/hypnosis weirdness. Fun fact - I didn't realize that you were paralyzed during REM sleep! That's kinda freaky.

The NFL is playing in London? Why didn't I know about this? This seems like the weirdest experiment ever. I mean, they already have a football - what will they call it? If I were the players, I'd be annoyed - not only do BOTH teams lose the home field advantage, they have to schlep all the way across the Atlantic for the game and play on a field not designed for football. I imagine this will also piss off fans of the two teams playing, since they obviously can't go to the game. And with the 5-hour time difference, will they be watching it on TV at, like, 8 in the morning? Or will the game be played at night in London, so that it's at it's regularly scheduled time in the U.S.? Seems complicated, and I don't really think it'll catch on. One game, maybe, for the novelty. But regularly? I can't really see Brits (or any other country) getting all excited about random teams that come over a few times a year for a single game. How do you choose who to root for?

Political fun for the day - Joe Trippi's influence on John Edwards' campaign. Hey, anyone else remember when Joe Trippi spoke on campus? Or do I only remember that because I helped organize it and went to the lecture, and talked to the guy afterwards at the reception? He's pretty nice, although at the time he was still pretty bitter about Dean (not just the self-destruction - they had a bit of a falling out before that, and I don't think Trippi was even working for Dean by the end). He told good campaign stories, though; I wish I remembered some. He's also a major Diet Coke addict.

Somebody interpret this...

Okay, here's my weird-ass dream from last night:

Let's start with the Office being in my living room. Like, the TV show. Dunder Mifflin in my living room. Possibly doing scenes that actually happened on the show. (Did Jim ever make fun of someone for mispronouncing the word "penitentiary"? And why does that not look like it's spelled correctly?) Anyway, then Andy tells Michael that he has to plan this party (I don't know what happened to Angela and her party-planning committee) and tries to hand him the party money. And Michael (who is wearing my pajamas - the pink ones, with the counting sheep) is all, "Yeah, that's not going to happen."

So, you can see how that would be distracting, which is why I was late for work (in the dream! I was totally here on time), but I was also somehow unprepared for a school project, which I intended to complete by playing a song from the musical "Pippin" on the piano. (Random trivia: I did in fact do a project for my bullshit college French class that involved me playing songs from "Les Miserables" on the piano.)

But I didn't get a chance to practice, because I had to go to a doctor's appointment with my mother. The doctor then sent me to a psychologist so that I could be hypnotized. We didn't actually get that far, though, because the psychologist's office didn't have chairs - they were these rolling stools that were really hard to sit on, because they kept rolling out from under you when you tried to sit. I'm not sure if that was some kind of social experiment. Then I woke up.

So yeah, that's my dream. What does it mean (other than the obvious - no more pepperoni before bedtime)?

TV Round-up

Bones last night was hilarious. LOVE the joint therapy: Booth calling the poor kid - I mean therapist - "Sweets" is awesome (even if it IS his last name), and it's adorable how terrified he is of his patients. And he's, like, 12: "Dude, you, like, arrested her father." That teaser made me laugh out loud.

Also hilarious: Hodgins getting excited about the compost pile, Angela being intimidating, and Booth interpreting Brennan's alligator story as saying he has a small penis. And, oh my God, the previews for next week - Brennan as Wonder Woman. Cam as Catwoman. O.M.G.

The Damages season finale was also made of awesome last night - if you haven't watched the show, you should. It hasn't been renewed for a second season yet, and it totally deserves it. Glenn Close, people!

Pushing Daisies - which I am still watching, and yes, it is still quirky - has gotten a full-season order.

Has anyone bought the Veronica Mars season 3 DVD yet? I'd probably buy it anyway (if only for completion of my collection), but I'm super-curious about the season 4 pitch. I think this quote from the article sums it up: "There was going to be a world where Veronica Mars was issued a sidearm, and the CW network didn't think that was a good idea. What fools these mortals be." Well, now we get to see her shoot electricity out of her fingertips and hopefully tangle with Peter "I'm so much hotter since I cut my hair" Petrelli.

Well, that was fast.

Viva Laughlin is canceled already, winning the prize for first TV series to get the ax (except for CW's Online Nation, which doesn't count, because it's not a real show anyway).

Is anyone else going absolutely crazy watching those stupid Bee Movie sketches that Jerry Seinfeld does during Chuck and The Office (and possibly other NBC shows)? I don't think I've ever seen a more persistent effort to be completely unfunny. Gah, it makes me want to throw things at the TV. There's certainly something to be said for DVR (and that something would be that I NEED it).

Oh, and guess what? The closest major city to me... is home to the least attractive people in the United States. AWESOME.

Listy goodness

This list of the 25 Greatest Moments from The Office had me giggling in my cubicle. (I'm also now waiting for Teresa to leave her desk so I can put her stapler in jello.)

And there are enough vampire movies to have a list of the Top 70 of all time? Seriously?

It has "heart"

I'm finally caught up on the Office, so now I've moved on to watching the first season of Friday Night Lights. The one thing I've always heard about this show is that "it has heart," and that definitely seems to be true. I don't find the plot lines particularly compelling (I mean, after all, it's high school football), and yet it still makes me laugh, cry, and cheer. Seriously, I think I got more excited over some of those football games than I did watching my actual high school football team. I do feel like they have one too many games that come down to the last 15 seconds or whatever. Most football games aren't quite that down-to-the-wire every time. I also noticed that the football is pretty well explained, so that you don't have to be a football fan to know what's going on in a game. There was only one time where I felt I was being talked down to - when they explained after every play that running out of bounds stopped the clock, during one of those 4th quarter, 15 seconds left drives.

And as a follow-up to last week's post, here's a not-so-nice review of Viva Laughlin. There was a new episode on last night (Sunday will be its regular time slot until it's canceled in another week or so), which I completely forgot about, due to watching FNL. Can't say I feel like I missed much.

Um... yeah...

Did anyone else watch the Viva Laughlin premiere last night? That's the show set in Las Vegas with the random musical numbers. Yeah.

Well, first, let me say that the plot didn't interest me at all. I didn't care when I heard about it, and I didn't care when I was watching it. I honestly don't even think I could describe it to you. The ONLY reason to watch this show was to see how badly the singing thing would work out.

And it was awkward. I have to give them credit - the Vegas setting gives it enough flash that it really doesn't seem too weird to have a guy dancing down the street or busting a move on top of a blackjack table. But the actual execution of the singing? Not so much. The songs are pop songs, sung by the cast members over the track of the original artist! That's just... bizarre. I could understand if the cast members were singing the songs on their own (see Kristin Chenowith's "Hopelessly Devoted to You" from last week's Pushing Daisies), but to have them sing along with the original artist like they're listening to some non-existent radio is just weird. And they weren't even very good at it. Half the time, they weren't in time with the recorded singer. I don't understand why they didn't just use these songs as the soundtrack, without making the cast sing along with them. They could still, you know, dance around if they wanted to, I guess.

Anyway, bottom line - weird. And one other thing - what the hell is "Laughlin"? They talked about it like it was a place, where the casino was located. Is it a section of Vegas? I can't imagine Vegas has, like, suburbs. I mean, it's in the middle of the desert.

It had to happen eventually...

Stephen Colbert is running for President. No, seriously. From both parties. But only in South Carolina.

(And it is a testament to my immaturity that the line in the second article about "leery Mr. Dawson" made me giggle. Get it? Dawson? Leery? Heh.)

Kittens come in sizes

I was on the Harrisburg Humane Society website the other night, looking at kittens (I'm totally getting one), and I noticed the funniest thing - they're listed by age, breed, and SIZE! Yes, that's right, kittens now come in small, medium, large, and x-large. I want this one. Or this one. Or all of them.

Are you right-brained or left-brained? I turned out to be right-brained, which I thought was odd. I've always thought of myself as the logic/order/math and sciency brained, not the creative/imaginative side. Also, the spinning dancer kinda made me woozy when I stared at it too long.

Kristen Bell on Heroes! Kristen Bell on Heroes! Yes, the reason I started watching the show in the first place shows up next week. Here's a little info from KB on her character. I am having a serious brain shortage trying to think of her as a "bad girl" but I'm sure that'll change once I get Veronica out of my head.

I'm on a roll today

Seriously, check out the multiple-postage. So, reading the New York Times, found a couple fun things. First, Stephen Colbert wrote an op-ed. And second, test your knowledge of the 2008 Presidential campaign with this quiz. I scored 11 out of 16. Go me!

And, completely NOT from the New York Times, play 20 questions! (I totally stumped it with "bread box." Thanks, Harmony.)

TV update

I am finally caught up on Heroes! I am almost caught up on The Office! (By the way, Megan, I wouldn't worry. Joss was just kidding... I think...) Speaking of The Office, even though I haven't seen the new episodes yet, and therefore can't judge, here's a post about whether the one-hour format works for the show (verdict: not so much).

Anyone else who's watching Pushing Daisies - how'd you feel about episode 2? I still like it - I thought the snark balanced the cuteness a bit, but when Kristin Chenowith started singing, I just went, "Oh, dear Lord." Now, we all know how much I love musicals, and Kristin Chenowith does have a wonderful voice, but that's exactly the kind of thing that's going to make normal people turn the show off. The quirk is tolerable only up to a point, and for many people, song-and-dance numbers (which seemed more like filler than anything else) are past that point. For me, personally, if the damn narrator doesn't stop giving people's ages in minutes and seconds, I'm going to reach into the TV and throttle someone.

I'm also (inexplicably) still watching Moonlight. I don't know why, but since I'm not caught up on Friday Night Lights, I don't have an excuse to pull my eyes away from the train wreck. I think I've put my finger on just what I dislike about the show. First of all, it's moving too fast. It's only the third episode, and the reporter not only knows Mick's big secret, but she is completely okay with the fact that vampires exist. Maybe I'm expecting too much, but those are big issues. It'd be nice if the show dwelt on them a little bit, you know, made them have an emotional impact. On the other hand, I feel like it treats the subject matter with too much gravity... as though this is groundbreaking stuff. Do we really need so much of the pretentious voice over? I mean, we've all watched vampire shows before, we don't need our hands held in explaining the mythology, even if it is slightly different (read: crappier) than previous incarnations. In the same vein (ha! get it?), I read somewhere that someone described it as, "This show would be good... if it aired in 1987." But it's ignored 20 years of raising the bar in TV production, and so it seems pretty crappy by today's standards. I have to agree. It makes me wonder if the creators of the show have watched TV in the past 20 years.

On a related note, here's a NYTimes article about how many supernatural shows there are on TV right now.

PA's newest resident

Okay, probably not, because there were a bunch of people in line behind me, but I am definitely one of PA's 100 newest residents. I spent a lovely 45 minutes at the DMV on Saturday (waaay more efficient than the DMV in New Jersey I visited last week), and came out with a shiny new driver's license and registration. Downside: my new license plate includes the letters "GWB." I thought about asking them for a different one, but I didn't want them to yell at me. Which they totally would have, because they got grumpy when I pointed out that they put the WRONG ADDRESS on my registration. I'm like, "YOU made a typo, and somehow I get yelled at?" I was told I had to fill out a change of address form. I'm like, "But I haven't moved in the past five minutes..." *evil stare from evil DMV employee* I filled out the change of address form.

Other than that, though, everything went smoothly, and I didn't even have to cry to get my way. I was fully prepared to turn on the waterworks, in case they wanted me to take my driver's test over again (which, teeeechnically, I should have had to do, since it's been more than 60 days since I moved). I even had a series of elaborate lies prepared. But all that planning was for nothing. Oh, well.

The Buffy effect

Here's an article comparing Reaper and Moonlight, in the context of how they are influenced by Buffy. Basically, Reaper ripped off all the good things (young people battling supernatural monsters, mixture of humor and horror) while Moonlight ripped off all the bad things (overly broody main character and other way-too-specific details, "crossing the line from homage into grand larceny"). I must admit, though, if they'd actually called it Shmangel, I'd totally watch it, just for the giggles. (Jury is still out on Moonlight, by the way. I haven't gotten around to watching episode 2 yet, but I really don't want to like it.)

Also, Joss Whedon is directing another episode of The Office. As is his habit, he will be killing off main characters in a manner that is both gruesome and funny.

Happy Tuesday

The week feels so much nicer when it starts on Tuesday instead of Monday. I'm advocating that we should make Monday into a permanent three-day weekend. Also, three cheers for whoever decided state workers should get Columbus Day off.

I spent the weekend at my parents' house, as I may have mentioned in the midst of my car rant. I am now the proud owner of a (salvaged) 1999 Chevy Malibu. Yes, it is the same car I've been driving for the past 2 years, but now the title and the registration are in my name. I have a new set of license plates (which I'll probably give back before I even get the chance to memorize them), and my VIN has been validated (shout-out to Barlow Chevrolet). Sometime this week, I will hopefully be getting my PA drivers license (cross your fingers that it goes without incident - I really don't want to take the test again) and my new insurance policy. Then, all that's left is registration (again) and inspection (again).

In other news, or well, just news, this really pisses me off. I'm tired of hearing the argument, "Well, they can just go to the emergency room," to justify not providing health insurance. An emergency room is NOT health care. Do you not understand the meaning of the word "emergency"? It means you shouldn't have to go there every time you get a cold. That's what private family practices are for. But you can't go to the doctor without insurance.

Seriously? This is what our political discussion has boiled down to? I think the craziest part of this story is that it started on The Daily Show, and got picked up by real news programs. I mean, I'm all for the news taking cues from Jon Stewart, when he addresses the issues mainstream media wants to ignore, but come on, people. You gotta know when it's a JOKE.

Bureaucracy sucks

Who wants to hear the tale of Laura's car woes? Okay, it all started with my mother being dumb.

So, I'm 23, and I'm still on my parents' insurance policy. The insurance company called one day and said they were gonna be kicking me off, and I had to get my own policy. Right. Fine. Then, my mother opens her mouth and says, "Well, she's living in Pennsylvania now." Which is apparently a problem, since you can't live in Pennsylvania and have your car insured in New Jersey. It's, like, fraud or something. But since the car was registered to my parents, who do still live in New Jersey, we didn't feel bad about it.

Oh, the complications. The car can no longer be insured in my parents' name, because I'm no longer on their policy. Which means the car can no longer be registered to my parents, because the names on the registration and insurance have to match. Which means the car can no longer be registered in New Jersey, because I don't live there.

We tried to get around it. We tried to claim it was my mother's car, and she's just letting me use it (which is true), and that someday I will get a new car, and this car will be returned to my parents, and so we didn't want to go through the trouble of transferring ownership twice. No dice. We thought maybe they could write a PA insurance policy, even though the car was registered in NJ. Can't do that, either.

Fine. Whatever. So, we have to transfer the title from my mother's name to mine, it'll have to get registered and insured in PA, and I'll have to get a PA drivers license. Which will cost me a crapload of money, with fees and inspection and all that, but whatever.

But no, it's gotta be even more complicated than that. We can't just transfer it. Because of a teensy, weensy incident where my mother totaled my/her car, the car now has a salvage title. So, we have to get the title transferred to my name. We have to get the car registered IN NEW JERSEY in my name. That's $40 for a 4-year registration I'll never use. I have to turn in the license plates and get temporary plates. THEN, I have to wait for them to send me new NJ plates, so I can put them on my car, drive to the DMV in PA, and take them off again.

In the meantime, I have to get my PA drivers license ($26) and get the car insured. Once that's done, I have to register the car in PA, turn in my (brand-spanking new) NJ license plates, get another set of temporary plates, and wait for them to send me the new PA plates. I'll have to pay another $36 registration fee, plus the cost and hassle of getting my car inspected in Pennsylvania. (For the record, inspection is free in NJ.)

In summary: Grrr. Argh.

I can't stop using the word "quirky"...

First off, good news! The noisy neighbors across the hall are gone! I'd noticed a significant lack of thumping (caused by a basketball being thrown at the door - at least, I hope it was a basketball, and not the girlfriend), and today I saw the painting supplies parked out in the hallway. You know what that means - apartment turnover! I hope the new neighbors are more friendly.

Anyway, who watched Pushing Daisies last night? It was definitely quirky, as promised, in sort of an Edward Scissorhands or Roald Dahl kind of way. It was kind of charming, but I almost wonder if it's too quirky... the premise might have worked well as a 2 hour movie, but that much quirkiness might get tiresome week in and week out. On the other hand, it does seem set up for a procedural format - we see a murder in the teaser, Ned touches them in the first act, and then they spend the rest of the episode solving the crime. Except I'm not sure that dry format matches the, well, quirkiness of the story. All in all, it was an interesting start, but I wasn't as enamored as all the critics made me think I would be.

A dose of politics

I haven't written much about political issues lately, which I think is two-fold. First, you guys probably don't care. And second, I've noticed that, since I started working in education, I've sort of developed tunnel vision. I don't pay nearly as much attention to other issues as I do to my issue.

But a couple articles on the Democratic Presidential debate last week caught my eye. This article on non-verbal language is really interesting, both in general and in the context of the debate. I think Hillary is really good at these types of non-verbal cues, subtleties that convey likable qualities, no matter what she's saying. As I've watched her performances during the campaign so far, I'm becoming more and more convinced that the people who don't like her just haven't taken the time to watch and listen to her.

Another Washington Post article also starts out about Hillary, but it's full of hilarious observations: The Democratic candidates as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" - hee! Mike Gravel, winning the votes of people who hate credit card companies. And "why the blogosphere is like being trapped at a cocktail party with the same 50 people forever."

Let's Recap

Okay, after having seen two episodes of most of the new shows, it's time to make some decisions on who gets cut. Here's how things shake out:

In: How I Met Your Mother, Chuck, Bones, Reaper, The Office

Out: Journeyman, Cane, Back to You, Gossip Girls

On Notice:
Heroes (assuming I finish season 1 without my head exploding)
Dirty Sexy Money
Without a Trace (I'm only watching until JM's arc is over, then I'm checking out)
Moonlight (which totally doesn't deserve it, but my JD love is strong... besides, I'm sure it'll be canceled by the time I get caught up on Friday Night Lights)

In other canceled TV news, did anyone else watch Traveler? Here's how it would've ended. Honestly? Sounds wicked complicated. I'm not sure it would've held my interest that long.

I just saw The Queen not too long ago, which was great, and now they're making a sequel. I do so love Tony Blair.

Okay, this was disturbing. Which Hero are you? I, apparently, am a psycho with multiple personality disorder. Maybe it's because all the confusing intersecting plot lines are making me crazy.

Fall Premieres, part... uh, I've stopped keeping track

Good Lord, I think I've reached my limit. I'm starting to get TV fatigue here. Too... many... new... shows. *flops over dead*

Okay, so Friday was Moonlight. All I have to say about that one is, well, I'm impressed by how much they managed to rip off Angel without being sued. Love this quote from the Daily News:

The new CBS series "Moonlight" doesn't get any points for originality, but it sure gets some for brazenness. Its elements are so shamelessly copied, the whole show should be sponsored by Xerox.

I mean, I was skeptical when I heard "vampire detective living in L.A. who saves people and is in love with a human woman." But damn, they even dressed him like Angel. And the "human woman" looks remarkably like Elisabeth Rohm, and even has a similar personality - she's a reporter instead of a cop, but she does the same sort of supernatural investigating that has her crossing paths with Mick St. John. (*cough* Could you BE more Irish? And who else was Irish? Oh, that's right. Angel. (I am forever scarred by his hideous Irish brogue.)) There's also, of course, the requisite lover who turned Mick into a vampire (Darla, anyone?), and he even SET HER ON FIRE! (He did not, however, lock her in a room with a bunch of lawyers, but it's only the first episode.)

I do love Jason Dohring, but he seems pretty much wasted in this show. I was so looking forward to him as a vampire, but honestly, I think he was more evil playing Logan Echolls. Plus, the dialogue is so stilted that he sounds ridiculous saying it. It's almost like he knows the show sucks (no pun intended) and he's just reciting the lines as quickly as he can so he can go audition for a better job.

The one thing that really bothered me, surprisingly, is the way they tried to make themselves original - sunlight is annoying but not apparently lethal in this mythology. Well, fine, be different if you want to, but personally, I think it takes away some of the mystique of the vampire. He's not really a creature of the night if he can walk through broad daylight. (The one obviously deliberate shot of Jason Dohring in a ray of sunlight totally made me roll my eyes.) Granted, Angel and Spike ran around in the sun at times, but at least they made an effort to hide under a blanket or something, and they started to smolder if they stayed out too long.