TV news!

So, it appears James Marsters is starring in another SciFi - excuse me, SyFy - series called Three Inches. It remains to be seen whether the quality will be BSG-esque SyFy or bad B-movie-esque SyFy.

I am also still plugging away at my TV-watching project. I finished season 2 of Six Feet Under this weekend, and I kind of remembered why I didn't get through this season the first time. I mean, I still think it's a great show, but it is definitely not up to season 1's standard. I think part of it is that, although the Fisher family is as fantastic as always, I find a lot of the supporting characters to be terribly grating, especially Brenda, Lisa, Nikolai, Rico's family, and Keith's niece Taylor. I did get a huge kick out of seeing Glenn Fitzgerald as the cancer patient who forms a relationship of sorts with Nate, since he and Peter Krause played half-brothers later on in Dirty Sexy Money, and Brian was one of my absolute favorite characters on that show.

Anyway, I love Nate's fascination with and fear of death, and his desperate need to figure out the nature of life after death brought on by his medical condition. I also loved seeing Claire discovering her talent and her passion for art and Ruth being so happy to be a grandmother. As much as my enjoyment of this show comes from how fucked up the Fishers are, I really just want good things to happen to them, lol.

Since I immediately followed SFU by starting Dexter season 4, I was of course completely blown away by Michael C. Hall (again, in reverse). It's weird how he seems so much older on SFU, I guess because David is so uptight and clueless and proper and Dexter's all scruffy and, you know, a serial killer.

I'm also glad to see the end of Kroehner. I honestly felt like that subplot was played out by the end of season 1. Exchanging Gilardi for Mitzi made it more fun, but I'm tired of Fisher & Sons constantly being under siege.

Best news ever!

When fandoms collide... James Marsters is guest starring in "Caprica," the BSG prequel series. Squee!

Let's use some of those tags I've got there...

Remember when I used to post TV news here? Well, it's been a long, slow summer, but we're starting to get more interesting things to talk about again.

First up, HIMYM tidbits for next season. Two words: musical episode.

Also, David Anders will be on next season's 24. He is, like, my second favorite blond, immortal misunderstood TV villain with a fake British accent. (On Heroes, anyway. No word on whether he'll be doing the accent on 24.)

And finally, in honor of the season premiere Sunday night (omg I love this show), Which Mad Man are you? I'm apparently Salvatore, which cracks me all up.

Oh, and for those of you who might be jealous, Megan and I will be in New Jersey this weekend, as James Marsters has decided to come visit our Garden State again. :)

Happy chocolate bunny day

Hope everyone had a good Easter. Mine was remarkably uneventful, despite the history-making dinner hosted by my cousin and her boyfriend, which included all of his family, all of our family, two dogs, two cats, and a baby. The best part was when Aunt Judy showed up with the convent's dog, Sister Penny, and Mike's dog, Robo got verrrrry interested. We're all, "Robo, she's a nun! She's never seen a male dog before!"

Anyway, fun stuff for today: working around the HIMYM baby bumps, and the Modesto Bee talks about their hometown boy, James Marsters ("That kid is gonna get his @*# kicked.").

Also, if you haven't heard about Amazonfail yet, you're not paying attention. There are plenty of theories, including the hacker theory and the incompetence theory, but the one I'm not buying is the Amazon hates gays theory - even if they didn't have a reputation for being liberal, they're not going to do something this blatant when it hurts their bottom line.

Plus, once I ordered something from Amazon and it took them three tries to find my house. I'm voting for incompetence.

Slow holiday Friday

It is DEAD today. No one is working in my office... or in any other office, judging by the utter lack of phone calls I've gotten today. Which leaves me plenty of time to search the internet and find fun things for you.

I haven't been terribly interested in Dragonball: Evolution, despite James Marsters being in it, so I've been avoiding linking to the eleventy billion interviews that have been released in conjunction with the movie's promotion. However, I will link to this one, because it's geeky and cute (I am now imagining his son going "Fat Piccolo! Fat Piccolo!"), it covers just about all his recent projects, and he talks about Andy Hallett. If you're really interested, I can find plenty more...

The Dollhouse season finale fiasco seems to have been straightened out. But yeah, you're probably gonna have to get the DVD if you want to watch the mystical 13th/14th episode.

Aaron Sorkin may be coming back to TV, with another show-within-a-show idea.

And apparently having babies is the cool new thing, because now Sarah Michelle Gellar is pregnant.

Linky stuff

This is so unfair: Kal Penn gets a job at the White House, and I can't? WTF?

Interview with Rashida Jones about Parks & Recreation.

This is kind of weird - CBS made a Barney/Robin video called BRo Love. It kind of looks like a fan video you'd see posted on youtube, not something produced by the network, but I guess HIMYM has always been a little unusual.

Speaking of youtube, I am dead from cuteness: James Marsters playing guitar with his son. Also, check out their other videos - they made an "epic film." :)

James!

Still pretty swamped in work, but I'm squeaking in a post to mention that I went to South Orange, NJ, on Sunday to see James Marsters in concert. Unlike the last one, I managed to get there without serious mishap, although I was pretty much an idiot right off the bat when I left my ticket at home, and had to backtrack 20 minutes to get it, but I still managed to get there in time for dinner with my friend Kat, who was there for the whole day event with autographs and photos and Q&A and such (I just did the concert because it was cheaper).

James has definitely improved since I saw him a year and a half ago. And he played "All That She Wanted," "Fall of Night," and "Button Down Vandals," which are the three songs I love and don't have on a CD, so I'm satisfied. :) I didn't bother to take any pictures because a.) my camera sucks, and b.) I know there were plenty of people there who take much, much better pictures than me anyway. Here's some good ones. My personal favorites are constipated James, and "wind-up James needs a recharge."

James was teh pretty, of course, but I have to admit - I don't know if he's just gotten too old for my tastes or if I'm just ready to move on, but he doesn't do it for me the way he used to. I did not swoon when he came on, not even a tingle, despite his best sexy-me act.

That aside, he still puts on a pretty good show - when he's not trying to make us swoon, he's funny and self-effacing. He accidentally stepped on the lead and yanked it out of the guitar in the middle of "Layabout;" after making fun of himself, he plugged it back in and went on because "The third verse is the best! I'm playing it anyway!" I love how he felt the need to explain that that song was about filming "Torchwood," because the lyrics could possibly be taken another way. Well, I never thought about it like that before, but I certainly am now, James. Ahem. And dear heavens, the "Moonshot" song that he wanted to name after Buzz Aldrin? Could not stop giggling the entire time. It's a shame, because it's a very sweet, lovely song, but all I could think about was him singing a love song to Buzz.

Anyway, fun times were had, and anyone who's jealous can keep in mind that he'll be back in New York in June. :)

TV catch-up

It's been several days since I made the rounds of my usual websites, so here's a bunch of info for you.

First, did you know that this website grades House on its medical accuracy? I was actually really curious, since most of that shit seems pretty outlandish (and sometimes, it seems, it is). I'm still working on season 3 of House, by the way. It's turning into a "watch while I do other things" kind of show - you know, the kind that only requires half my brain, and I can check my email or chat on AIM at the same time.

Also, this poll proves British people are stupid, or just like ticky boxes. How is it possible that three of the same people could be in the top four on both the "Best American Accent" and "Worst American Accent" list?? Personally, I think Hugh Laurie, Jamie Bamber, and Matthew Rhys all have great accents (I didn't even know Matthew Rhys was British, although the last name should've been a dead giveaway). Worst award definitely goes to Marianne Jean-Baptiste. I can't stand listening to her.

What else? Oh, new cast members for the 24 movie. Tony Todd scares the hell out of me, so he should be very good as a "cruel African dictator."

Also, my boy James Marsters is getting some play for his role as Buzz Aldrin in "Moonshot." (That's the reason he had to cancel Fangoria, by the way. Becky and I are still very disappointed. Morale will probably sink lower if he shaves his head again for this role.)

Still pissed about the Bones finale? (Seriously, it's been a week. Get over it.) Here's an interview with Hart Hanson, which probably won't make people feel better. Although it is nice to know that they intended to have more character development leading up to the reveal, had it not been for the writers' strike. Also heartening to hear that Eric Millegan may be back occasionally.

And finally, an interview with Joss about the reduced commercial time for Dollhouse.

MORE Buffy panel

It's never-ending! Here are a few fan accounts of Paley Fest, including this one with video clips, this one, which has pics of James and Joss signing autographs and also talks about the Pushing Daisies panel, and this hilarious photo account of the all-important "Angel or Spike?" question.

Bad news for Bones

When I made my TV update post last week, I thought that Feb. 22nd was an awfully long time to wait for a new Bones ep. I had no idea.

Now, the report is that a new episode won't air until April 28th! Gah! But, I guess the up-side is that it'll be on Mondays at 8 instead of Fridays. And yay for possibly getting the school shooting ep from last season.

To take your mind off the depressing news, here's some still shots from Torchwood's season 2 premiere. Oh man oh man oh man. James kissed a BOY! (Okay, I already knew that was gonna happen.) And I'm finding it way hotter than I should.

I completely forgot to watch Friday Night Lights last week (I was too wrapped up in my BSG). This whole "watching network TV again" thing is gonna take some getting used to. For about a month, until they all run out of episodes. *sigh*

Also, the CW is mucking around with their schedule, and will be airing Reaper in its regular time next week (Jan. 15th) and then moving the last episode filmed before the strike to Thursday, Feb. 28th after Smallville.

TV update

With the holiday season come and gone, I thought you might be curious when your favorite shows will be coming back. TV Squad has a list, although it looks incomplete... but that might be because there are more shows than I realized that aren't coming back at all due to the writer's strike. :( Anyway, here's the rundown of shows I care about:

1. Friday Night Lights has six episodes left, starting Friday, January 4th.
2. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are both coming back January 7th with new episodes but no writers. Should be fun!
3. Psych is coming back to finish the second half of season 2 starting Friday, January 11th.
4. The seven-episode season 2 of Jericho starts Tuesday, February 12th.
5. Oh, the injustice! Bones doesn't come back until February 22nd (now relegated to Fridays - thanks American Idol!), with only three episodes left to air.

Nowhere to be seen: How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Pushing Daisies, 24, and The Office (which I didn't expect to see), and Chuck, Reaper, and Dirty Sexy Money (which I did expect to have one more episode each). Also not on the list: Torchwood season 2 premieres January 26th, guest-starring James Marsters as a poodle-chasing, Jack-kissing, omnisexual time agent with absolutely no morals. And a big-ass sword.

There's also a bunch of new shows that are premiering as mid-season replacements, but I can't remember what any of them are about. I'll just go back to my Battlestar Galactica DVDs. I just started watching it, since everyone else seems to think it's the best thing ever, and although the miniseries was a little slow, I'm really getting into the show.

Also, a funny mixing of politics and Buffy: The Republican presidential candidates and their corresponding Buffy villains. Hee!

Buy Isaac's art!

That'd be Isaac Mendez, from "Heroes" (or, as Hiro calls him, "Mystery Sock"). NBC is auctioning off a bunch of items from its shows, including three of the future paintings from "Heroes" and some football equipment from "Friday Night Lights" (OMG, I want Tim Riggins' jersey!).

In other TV news, my less-favorite Logan, the one from "Gilmore Girls," will be popping up on FNL.

Meanwhile, it looks like the Heroes: Origins series has been replaced with a "Create Your Own Hero" poll to determine the new Hero's characteristics. Oh, and Hayden Panettiere is wanted for arrest in Japan. (I'm totally on her side. Save the dolphins!)

James Marsters, on the other hand, is testing my fan-love. I don't think I can bring myself to go see a Dragonball movie, not even for JM (and especially not if he's green and has pointy ears).

Fall Premieres, part 4

This week is starting to tire me out! I was really busy in work yesterday (in meetings most of the day), so I didn't get a chance to post. So, we've got two days worth of TV to talk about.

Wednesday:

Back to You - After two episodes, I am officially tuning out on this one. I'm not sure if it was the boob joke, the dead fish thing (which really stopped being funny after the second or third fish), or when Patricia Heaton's character started having mood swings like a manic depressive with PMS. Either way, I'm sick of this show already. I have to admit, the taser thing was funny (tasers are always funny), but it's nothing I can't watch on the REAL news - and it's always funnier when it's real.

Gossip Girl - Still not sure how I feel about this one. I don't particularly like it - rich snobs aren't really my thing - but I feel somehow compelled to find out what happens next. It's that soapy nature that sucks you in.

Dirty Sexy Money - This is another one that I'm not sure how I feel about it. I love Peter Krause and Donald Sutherland, and the plot is intriguing, but I'm finding a problem in that I hate every other member of the Darling family. They all feel like caricatures, mostly asshole-ish ones, and most of them don't have any redeeming qualities that make you like them despite their faults.

Thursday:

Without a Trace - Fairly unremarkable procedural. I wouldn't be watching it at all if it weren't for James Marsters (check out the TWoP interview... it's like my two favorite things coming together). I doubt I'll watch past his episodes. Dammit, James, get better shows! (He's also going to be coming back to Smallville for a few episodes, which I refuse to sit through.)

Speaking of Smallville, I am pleased to say that I am NOT crazy (shut up!). That Supergirl commercial DID use the Buffy music.

Why's it Monday already?

Did everyone have a good weekend? I went out karaoking with Ben for his birthday and observed while he failed to score with women by serenading them with Billy Joel songs. I did not sing. (I learned my lesson well from that little Love Shack incident last time. Can't fool me twice.)

It turns out Barney (from How I Met Your Mother) has a blog. Check it out. Yes, okay, it's been around for two years now, but I only started watching the show, so get off my back. Besides, that just means you've got some catching up to do.

I guess procedurals are the hot new thing lately with Buffy actors, because not only is James Marsters guest starring on Without a Trace (10pm Thursday on CBS - watch it!!), but Nicholas Brendan just announced a role on Criminal Minds.

Also, there's civil unrest in Belgium. Seriously? Belgium? They seemed so peaceful, with their chocolate and their waffles.

Fun Buffy stuff

First, for your entertainment, a brilliant video - really well-done remake of the Ocean's Eleven trailer, starring the Buffy and Angel casts. I would so totally go see this movie.

Also, a nice interview with Amber Benson, who never ceases to impress me, and an interview with James Marsters on his upcoming WAT role. Fun fact: he beat out former co-star Nicholas Brendon for the part.

James Marsters... Detective Mars?

Woohoo! James Marsters was just announced as a recurring guest star on Without a Trace, playing a character named - I kid you not - Detective Mars (I wonder if his daughter's named Veronica). This is super-exciting, because now I get to watch James on my TV regularly, and it's a pretty well-known show, so he should get noticed. (As opposed to that awful, horrible Saving Grace. Did anyone else watch that? I forgot to talk about it, because I was on vacation when James' episode aired and watched the tape later, but he was only in it for about two minutes. Thank God he turned down the regular role on that show... I don't think I could stand watching it every week, even for my James.) It's about damn time James got a decent role in something mainstream. I've never watched Without a Trace before (I'm moderately anti-procedural), but I'll at least be watching the episodes he's in.

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.

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!

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