Big Orange Michael

TV Round-Up: Chuck (The Series Finale)

2012-01-30T06:12:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite shows from the past couple of years, Chuck, came to a close Friday evening. The two-hour finale was pretty as close to perfect as the show gets and a reminder of everything that I've come to enjoy about the show.

The two-hour finale was chock full of call-backs to some of the series best moments all while trying to wrap up the series in a way that felt satisfying and complete. Given that Chuck has pretty much had three other potential series finales leading up to this point, it's great they were able to find a way to deliver a final finale that didn't feel like it was necessarily rehashing things we'd seen in other potential finales all while putting a bow on five years of the spy dramedy.

And, of course, any time you can have Jeffster save the day by taking on an 80's hit, you've got a winner. (Though in all fairness, it wasn't quite as amazingly funny as season two's "Mr. Roboto" performance. Part of that is probably the surprise factor in that one).

Looking back, I can see how and why season five developed as it did, even if I think the whole Morgan has the intersect plotline was a bit rushed. But seeing where the journey took us made that all a bit more worthwhile, even if I wish they'd explored it a bit more. I still think the high point was earlier this season with Chuck taking on Shaw in the Buy More and pulling a Superman II moment to remove the Intersect from Shaw and allow them to fight on equal ground.*

*Plus the whole homage of Shaw being played by Brandon Routh is pretty darn cool.

At its best Chuck was one of the most entertaining shows on TV with plenty of sly winks to fans. It had some of the best guest casting of any show out there, primarily because it based the characters certain guests played on their reputation. This allowed for the show to quickly get into the meat and potatoes of the story without long exposition scenes and it also allowed for sly commentary on each guest star. Again, Shaw worked well because he was played by Routh, though the show really didn't get much better than Chevy Chase and Scott Bakula as guest stars in season two.

Revisiting pivotal moments from the Chuck/Sarah relationship helped the finale keep moving, but it also tempted me to pull out the Blu-Rays and start over from the beginning to watch things unfold all over again.
I will admit that part of me was pretty nitpicky and wondered if Sarah has had the Intersect removed from her brain or if it's still in there and she just can't access it because she doesn't recall how. And while I like Elle and Awesome getting a happy ending, the whole "we've got our dream jobs and are moving" felt a bit too much like an obvious series finale type of moment.

But I'm willing to let all of that slide and call the finale "near perfect" because it did what Chuck did best. And the final scene on the beach as Chuck and Sarah begin to fall in love all over again was exactly how the series should end.

Oh sure, it's no "Guys, I know kung fu," but it was still pretty darn good.

TV Round-Up: Touch, Alcatraz

2012-01-27T13:47:00.004-06:00

Touch

Watching the series premiere of Touch, I had to work awfully hard to get past two things. One is that after eight years of Kieffer Sutherland playing Jack Bauer, it's hard to see him in a different television role. The other is that it's hard to get over the disappointment about how quickly Heroes squandered its potential. And since Touch is from the mind of Tim Kring, it will take a couple of more episodes to really get past that.

But, so far, I have to admit the idea is intriguing enough and I want to see more. Hopefully, Fox will repeat this pilot episode when the series returns in March. It feels like one of those shows where recalling details will be critical and a month and a half is long time to forget some of the pilot elements that may have an impact in the overall run of the series.

Alcatraz

As the commercials keep reminding me, J.J. Abrams is in charge of this. And while the show is trying awfully hard to be cut from the same cloth as Lost, it's not quite as immediately compelling as Lost. Of course, I have to remind myself that while Lost was good out of the gate, it wasn't until the first Locke episode that it went from an interesting show to I will never miss an episode ever again type of show.

I think the show needs to find a better balance from being a hybrid of a procedural (wacky criminal from the past comes forward and we investigate) and the overall long-term mythology of things (why did they all vanish? What is Sam Neill's role in all of this? Why did the female doctor who got shot not age? Why the underground facility?) I certainly hope the series learned a lesson or two from Lost in that we get answers just as often as we get new questions. Piling on too many questions may not work in the long term--at least not without a bit more investment in the characters.

But again, I'm intrigued enough to add it to the DVR rotation and watch a few more episodes. It's produced by J.J. Abrams and that gives me hope.

Thirty-Nine

2012-01-19T09:06:00.000-06:00

Jack Benny stopped counting birthdays at the age of thirty-nine.* The first time I heard that joke, thirty-nine seemed kind of old. Today as I turn thirty-nine for the first time, it doesn't seem nearly as old as it once did in my younger years.

*Well, at least his carefully crafted comic character persona did.

Looking back on the past thirty-eight years, I can see how amazingly blessed I am. Even just casting my memory back over the past year, it's been a great one. I got to take a trip to Disney World with my family, married my best friend, completed my third indoor triathlon and half-marathon (actually, ran half a mile longer, but who's counting?!?), welcomed the arrival of a new niece and much, much more. Oh sure, last year was arguably the worst year in the history of Tennessee athletics but that can only mean that the foundation is in place for my thirty-ninth year to be memorable for good reasons.**

**It wasn't helped by that pathetic display of basketball I witnessed last evening when the Vols played UGA. I must be a true orange and white fan to endure THAT!

During the year, I read a lot of books, watched a lot of TV and televised sports, saw some movies and listened to some music. As for what is ahead in my thirty-ninth year, I can only say I'm looking forward to what's in store.

And since forty is the new thirty, I may not be like Jack Benny and actually keep counting my birthdays from this point forward. Or maybe not. Time will tell.

Changes

2012-01-18T12:09:00.000-06:00

My local Y is undergoing some changes. It's the first of the year, so that means we've got new machines, new members and this year, a whole new logo and set of signs posted around the building.

I nearly wept with joy with I saw the list of posted guidelines for the lap pool. At the top of the list was the statement that the lap pool is reserved for lap swimmers.* Of course, this could all be tested the first time the rec pool is shut down due to a chemical imbalance or the discovery of waste material in the pool. (Nice way of saying someone pooped in the pool). The list of guidelines also includes instructions on how to share the lane and the direction that should be used when circle swimming occurs.**

*Assuming we don't have water aerobics, swim team or some other activity scheduled, that is!

**The only guideline I feel was overlooked was the one saying that if you are going to share a lane, you really should have a pair of goggles. It's a win-win for everyone. Your fellow lap swimmers don't have to dodge you because you can't see clearly where you're going and who is in the lane with you and you don't have the pain and/or stigma of chlorine eyes all the rest of the day. On the downside, sales of Visine my drop.

Of course, these new guidelines assume a couple of things. One is that people will actually read and follow them. And based on what I've experienced in other areas of the Y during the first few weeks of the New Year, I put the odds on this one pretty low. I can't tell you how many people have annoyed me and I've probably annoyed because people can't/won't read the guidelines on how to use the indoor track. (Runners to the outside lane, walkers to the inside!) I think part of the confusion comes from the middle lane, which I think should be the passing lane and not the "let's all saunter around, visiting each other and drinking coffee" lane.

The second assumption is that those in positions of authority at the Y will enforce the guidelines/rules.

On that count, I'm taking a wait and see attitude. But I'm kind of hopeful that things may turn out OK. Maybe...hopefully...

If you're going to ban cell phones....

2011-12-14T07:02:00.000-06:00

I read with interest this morning the National Transportation and Safety Board's recommendation that cell phone use be banned while driving.

And while texting while driving or talking on your phone can be major distractions, I somehow feel like these two are just the whipping boys when it comes to the issue of distracted drivers. If we're going to ban these two practices, then we also need the laws that address people who put on make-up while driving, those who read a book, newspaper or other such reading material while behind the wheel (only a few weeks ago, I witnessed a driver reading a thick paperback while in the middle of morning rush hour!), changing the radio station or song on your .mp3 player while operating a car, listening to a talk show that gets you passionate in one way or another (in fact, they may have to eliminate radios entirely while driving). And I haven't even begun to cover having pets, children or other people in the car who could possibly distract you while driving.

The proposed ban doesn't even begin to consider how you possibly go about enforcing such laws. Since Tennessee passed the ban on texting while driving, I've seen numerous media reports about how the law hasn't really been enforced and how it really isn't all that easy or a high priority for law enforcement. And in the day and age with budget cuts looming for many law enforcement departments, do we really need our law enforcement officials out there looking for those using a cell phone while driving or might those resources be better used for investigating and/or preventing other crimes?

So, while the ban may sound really good and generate a few headlines today and in the days to come, in reality it's just another attempt by the nanny state to regulate our lives from womb to tomb.

A New Routine, Week 3

2011-12-06T19:21:00.000-06:00

As I suspected, a couple of days down with the flu and then working to build my energy level back up last week has forced me to take a step of two back in terms of my overall progress. On the positive side, I've recovered enough to get back into the swing of things and it hopefully won't take long to get back to where I was and keep moving forward.

Monday, December 5
Swimming:
200 swim/200 pull/200 kick/200 swim
6x50 @ 1:05 (25 fast/25 easy/kick hard on the wall until next interval)
3x100 @ 3:00 (25 Frog-on-a-Lilypad/25 kick/50 swim)
8x75 w/fins @ 1:30 (25 underwater/25 swim/25 Tarzan drill)
50 easy
4x100 pull @ 2:00 (3/5 breathing pattern by 25)
300 (25 kick/25 drill/25 swim x 3)
6x75 @ 1:30 (25 free/25 non-free/25 free)
200 cool down
*3400 Total*

Ultimate Cardio: 30 minutes

Body Pump: 45 minutes

Tuesday, December 7
Swimming:
200 swim/200 pull/200 kick
6x50 w/:10 rest (25 fast/25 easy/:10 seconds kick hard on the wall)
3x100 w/:30 rest (25 Frog-on-a-Lilypad/25 kick/50 swim)
6x75 w/fins w/:30 rest (25 underwater/25 swim/25 Tarzan drill)
3x100 pull w/:20 rest (3/5 breathing pattern by 25)
300 (25 kick/25 drill/25 swim x 3)
4x75 @ 1:30 (25 free/25 non-free/25 free)
100 cool down
*2600 Total*

Treadmill Run: 3.1 miles in 28 minutes 30 seconds

Elliptical: 15 minutes

Spin Class: 45 minutes
The spin bikes are new and I'll just say the new seats are going to take some time to get used to! The upside is that bike has a computer system that tracks rpm, heart rate (assuming I remember to wear the heart rate monitor) and distance. In the class, I was able to pedal up 14.2 miles.

The Y has some new equipment and I was curious about the new stair climber. But it was being hogged by the personal trainer for a personal training class. Sorry, but having a personal training session that monopolizes the two new machines during peak use time is pretty damn annoying!

A New Routine, Week 3

2011-12-01T09:31:00.001-06:00

Well, my new routine got a bit off routine in the last two weeks. Thanksgiving week means a lot of good food and having to adjust things due to different schedules. It was all going well enough until late Sunday when I came down with the flu. It's knocked my routine completely off. I just now feel like I'm getting back most of my energy to where I could feel like doing a light work-out again. So, I am declaring this week a bust and will have week four start with next Monday, when I hope to try and burn off some of that delicious food I had over Thanksgiving and beyond.

Monday, November 21

Swimming:
600 warm up (200 swim/100 kick x 2)
8x50 @ 1:10 (descend stroke count 1-4, 5-8)
4x150 pull @ 3:00
8x50 @ 1:10 (descend time 1-4, 5-8)
4x150 swim @ 3:00
8x50 @ 1:15 (25 non-free/25 free)
300 cool down (100 swim/50 kick)
*3300 Total*

Ultimate Cardio: 30 minutes

Body Pump: 45 minutes

Tuesday, November 22

Swimming:
6x50 @ 1:10 (25 tarzan drill, 25 swim)
1x200 swim (no walls/turn @ the "T")
4x50 @ 1:15 (non-free/free by 25)
1x200 pull (3/5 breathing pattern by 50)
3x50 @ 1:10 (kick hard on wall between reps)
1x200 (50 kick w/board, 50 pull w/board)
4x25 @ :40 (descend stroke count 1-4)
1x200 swim (descend by 50)
1x300 cool down (2x: 100 swim/50 kick)
*3300 Total*

Treadmill Jog: 30 minutes, 3.30 miiles

Stationary Bike: 20 minutes, 5.84 miiles

Elliptical: 10 minutes

Wednesday, November 23

Swimming:
400 warm up
3x150 w/:30 seconds rest(50 kick/50 drill/50 swim)
14x25 w/:15 rest (1 fast, 1ez, 2 fast, 1ez, 3 fast, 1ez, 4 fast, 1ez)
2 x [100 swim moderate (record your time) w/:20 rest
50 swim (faster than 1/2 of 100 time) w/:20 rest
150 easy (50 pull/50 kick/50 pull with board) w/:30 rest]
6x75 w/:30 rest (free/non-free/free by 25)
100 cool down
*2400 Total*

Spin Class: 45 minutes

Jogging (Indoor Track): 38 minutes

Thursday, November 24

BoroDash -- 4.0 miles in 37:48 seconds

Friday, November 25

Walk/Jog on Indoor Track: 15 minutes

Spin Class: 1 hour

Swimming:
300 warm up (200 swim/100 kick)
8x50 w/:15 rest (descend stroke count 1-4, 5-8)
4x150 pull w/:30 rest
8x50 w/:15 rest (descend stroke count 1-4, 5-8)
4x150 swim w/:30 rest
100 cool down
*2400 Total*

Saturday, November 26

Swimming:
300 warm up (200 swim/100 kick)
8x50 w/:15 rest (descend stroke count 1-4, 5-8)
4x150 pull w/:30 rest
8x50 w/:15 rest (descend stroke count 1-4, 5-8)
4x150 swim w/:30 rest
100 cool down
*2400 Total*

Ultimate Cardio: 55 minutes

Vols vs Kentucky Haiku

2011-11-26T06:10:00.001-06:00

Bowl game for Wildcats
Let's keep winning streak going
End season with win

An Open Letter to James Franklin and the Vanderbilt Nation,

2011-11-22T11:52:00.000-06:00

Dear James,

May I call you Jim?

I understand you're upset at the outcome of Saturday evening's game against the Tennessee Volunteers. Having been in your shoes a couple of times in the past year and a half of Tennessee football, I completely understand the frustration, the disappointment, the gut churning and the "what if's?" of a moment like Saturday night. The game was one of those that is a classic game to the side that won and one that the side that lost would rather forget ever happened (see also: Buffalo Bills' fans reaction to the Music City Miracle).

But here's the thing, Jim (and the rest of Vandy nation). At the point your team turned the ball over, it was a matter of losing by three or six.   Does that really make all that big a difference to anyone besides the odds makers and those who wagered on the game (for recreational purposes only, of course?).

Not so much. The game was pretty much over and you guys had lost. I hate to break that to you, but that's pretty much how it was going to go, Jim.

I understand your anger and frustration in the moment. And I don't know whether or not you took the time to shake Derek Dooley's hand after the game or not.   I hear conflicting reports on the matter and, quite frankly, I'd like to believe that even in the wake of disheartening defeat, you'd be a big enough sport to at least do a drive-by hand-shake.

What I fail to comprehend is how you and the rest of Vandy nation seem to determined to take away any pleasure or happiness that I and other Vols fans rightfully feel in this win.   All day yesterday I heard sports callers in the Nashville market call in, saying how Tennessee fans and the team shouldn't enjoy the victory because we were having a terrible year and they don't understand why beating Vanderbilt is something to get that excited about. I find this attitude extremely hypocritical since if you'd won the game, the Vanderbilt team would be dancing on the field (our field by the way) and telling everyone who would listen how great it was to beat the Vols for the second time in 26 years.   Double-standard, much?

And while I don't think the locker room comments getting posted to YouTube was the best thing in the world, I still don't see why you, Jim, take such offense to them.   First of all, those are things said in the heat of a moment by an emotional coach and a team that has had a pretty rough October.   It was senior night with emotions running high and they were coming off a huge win. And there are times when things are said in a locker room and aren't supposed to get out. I bet there have been some emotional moments in your team's locker room that you wouldn't want put out there on YouTube.

You keep talking about wanting to change the culture at Vandy. You complain that not enough fans show up to your games and those that do arrive early and leave late. I understand part of this schtick you're pulling is an attempt to change that culture. I won't get into the notion that part of this culture change involves playing dirty and trying to injure the other teams' players (the Vols coaching staff saw enough on film to ask the refs to watch for this Saturday night. I'm all for your team having intensity and working hard, but let's do it the right way, Jim!). You wanted your team to get up for this as a big rivalry game but yet when we treated it as such and the victory as such, you want to dismiss it.

So, go ahead and file away all these alleged grievances for next year as motivation. I hate to tell you this, Jim, but I really think this was Vandy's best chance to win a game against the Vols for the foreseeable future. We're down but we're building. We're young but we're gaining experience. We've had injuries but our core should be back next year and hopefully even better than ever. And this whole being motivated cuts both ways, Jim. As a proud member of Volunteer nation, I plan to remember how you and some of your fan base have acted in the week leading up to this game and in the days following the game. And I fully plan to savor this victory and to look forward to continuing to build our streak of dominance in football.

Sincerely,
Big Orange Michael

A New Routine, Week 2: Saturday

2011-11-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

Saturday, November 19

Swimming: 45 minutes, 2750 yards

Ultimate Cardio: 55 minutes

Treadmill Run: 3.19 miles, 28:01 minutes

Vols 27, Vanderbilt 21

2011-11-19T21:55:00.001-06:00

Well, it wasn't always pretty but the Vols finally manged to score some second half points and win the game. It was more exciting than it probably needed to be, but you've got to admit that once again Vanderbilt found a way to give the victory to the Big Orange!

After hearing all week on talk shows about how this wasn't the same old Vandy and how great it was that the roles were reversed (Vandy could effectively end our bowl hopes), I have to admit when the interception went back for TD in OT and it looked like, yes, the Vols would win, I erupted with shouting and joy. And then to finally have the refs send a call to end a game our way....well, it was wonderful.

Whether or not the final play should have ended in the result it did probably depends on which team you pull for. In my mind, it was game over and I think the refs got the call right. I am sure there are some who disagree.

I also understand that James Franklin was frustrated with the loss, but that's really no excuse to not at least shake Derek Dooley's hand after the game.

But at the end of the day, it all comes down to this. We're still Tennessee and they're still Vandy!

GO BIG ORANGE!!!!!!!!

Vols vs Vandy Haiku

2011-11-18T16:49:00.001-06:00

Tyler Bray is back
Typical roles reversed
Slam door on the Dores!

A New Routine, Week 2: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

2011-11-18T16:42:00.001-06:00

Wednesday, November 16

Swimming: 58 minutes, 27.33 seconds
600 warm up (200 swim/100 kick x 2)
8x50 @ 1:10 (descend stroke count 1-4, 5-8)
4x150 pull @ 3:00
8x50 @ 1:10 (descend time 1-4, 5-8)
4x150 swim @ 3:00
8x50 @ 1:15 (25 non-free/25 free)
300 cool down (100 swim/50 kick)
*3300 Total*

Ultimate Cardio: 30 minutes

Body Pump: 45 minutes

Thursday, November 17

Swimming: 1 hour, 12 minutes 27.78 seconds
600 Warm-Up
8x50 @ :50 (25 tarzan drill, 25 swim)
1x300 swim (no walls/turn @ the "T")
6x50 @ :60 (IM/free by 25)
1x300 pull (3/5 breathing pattern by 50)
4x50 @ :60 (kick hard on wall between reps)
1x300 (50 kick w/board, 50 pull w/board)
2x50 @ :60 (5 strokes, somersault, repeat)
1x300 swim (descend by 100)
1x600 cool down (4x: 100 swim/50 kick)
*4400 Total*

Treadmill Run: 30 minutes, 3.44 miles

Stationary Bike: 20 minutes, 5.89 miles

Friday, November 18

Swimming: 38 minutes, 17.61 seconds
300 warm up (200 swim/100 kick)
8x50 w/:15 rest (descend stroke count 1-4, 5-8)
4x150 pull w/:30 rest
8x50 w/:15 rest (descend stroke count 1-4, 5-8)
4x150 swim w/:30 rest
100 cool down
*2400 Total*

Jogging: 30 minutes on indoor track

Spinning: 60 minutes (interval work)

A New Routine, Week 2: Sunday and Monday

2011-11-14T19:24:00.000-06:00

Sunday, November 13

Swimming:
600 warm up (2x: 200 swim/50 kick/50 drill)
6x100 swim w/:20 seconds rest (descend 1-3, 4-6)
4x150 pull w/:30 seconds rest (distance per stroke)
3x200 swim w/:30 rest (3/5 breathing pattern by 50)
100 cool down
*2500 Total*
Time: 41 minutes, 37.68 seconds

Monday, November 14

Had intended to swim but pool was closed before my two classes. Due to other obligations, I had to cut the swimming on Monday (which I hate doing since swimming is my favorite form of exercise).

Ultimate Cardio: 30 minutes

Body Pump: 45 minutes

Upcoming training events: I'm participating in the BoroDash on Thanksgiving Day, which is four miles. My first timed event since completing the Middle Half last month. I am considering doing a 5K on December 3 simply because one of the sponsors is Old Chicago and all those who run get pizza.
On the horizon for next year is my fourth indoor triathlon. I've heard there will be two levels this year--a shorter course and a longer one. I intend to do the longer one. So, I need to train for that. Always good to have a goal!

A New Routine: Thursday, Friday and Saturday

2011-11-12T18:40:00.001-06:00

Thursday, November 10
Swimming:
500 warm up
3x150 @ 3:30 (50 kick/50 drill/50 swim)
14x25 @ :40 (1 fast, 1ez, 2 fast, 1ez, 3 fast, 1ez, 4 fast, 1ez)
4 x [100 swim moderate (record your time) @ 2:00
50 swim (faster than 1/2 of 100 time) @ :60
150 easy (50 pull/50 kick/50 pull with board) @ 4:00]
8x75 @ 1:30 (free/non-free/free by 25)
200 cool down
*3300 Total*
Time: 54 minutes 16.44 seconds

Running (Treadmill):
3.44 Miles
30 Minutes

Stationary Bike:
5.85 Miles
20 Minutes

ARC Trainer:
10 Minutes

Friday, November 11
Swimming:
4x200 choice w/fins w/:10 sec rest
20x50 4x(2 kick @ :60, 2 drill @ :55, 1 swim @ :50)
2x250 pull @ 3:30
2x250 swim @ 3:20
2x250 pull @ 3:15
2x250 swim @ 3:20
200 easy
6x50 @ :60 (25 non-free, 25 free)
4x100 IM @ 1:50
4 x 50 free swim
400 cool down
*5400 Total*
1 hour 27 minutes 26 seconds

Saturday, November 12
Swimming:
2750 Meters
43 minutes, 09.30 seconds

Ultimate Cardio:
55 minutes (Class is part ultimate cardio, some Body Pump Work)

A New Routine: Wednesday

2011-11-09T19:21:00.002-06:00

Swimming:

10 minute choice warm up (12 laps=650)

6x75 @ 1:45 (kick/drill/swim by 25)

2 x [3x100 pull @ 1:50

4x75 swim @ 1:20 (strong effort)

6x50 @ 1:10 (non-free/free by 25)]

300 easy pull (3/5 breathing pattern by 50)

14x25 fast @ :30, ez @ :40 (1 FAST, 1ez, 2 FAST, 1ez, 3FAST, 1ez, 4FAST, 1ez)]

200 cool down

*3650 Total*

Time: 60 minutes, 49.95 seconds

Ultimate Cardio: 30 minutes

Body Pump: 45 minutes

The Penn State Scandal

2011-11-09T15:39:00.000-06:00

In a week in which most sports fans would love to be talking about the aftermath of some compelling college and pro football games or the implications of said games on the national title race, instead the world of sports (and the world as a whole) has been shaken to its core by the scandal going on at Penn State.

It's a shame that the career of coach Joe Paterno will end on this sour note. But it's even more of a shame that he and the rest of those in positions of authority enabled a predator to continue to prey upon young boys, shattering their lives forever. I don't care how great a coordinator this guy is, his pattern of behavior over a period of years showed he needed some kind of help and yet no one around him seemed to want to man up and help the guy. Or at least man up enough to make sure he never, ever violated the trust of those young men put under his guidance, leadership and authority or that of their parents.

In our society today, we have too few men who are willing to stand up and do the right thing. And make no mistake--in this situation, there was only one right thing to do.

Say what you will about the impact of scandals at UT, North Carolina, Miami, Alabama, Auburn or any other school whose athletic department has come under the radar the of the NCAA lately, but those scandals were only confined to the results on the field and the ethics of those involved. Whether or not a player got an illegal benefit or two or rules were broken to try and win on the field, the impact and implication of those scandals were confined to the athletic deparment.

This one could end up being every more far reaching. As law-suits come in (and they will come in), donors and alumni could be less inclined to give money to Penn State. It could be a reaction to this and it could be wondering just where the money will go--will it go to fund the programs they want to see continue or the fall out of this and the settlements that are coming. That could lead to a diminished offering in the classroom at Penn State and the overall quality of its academics taking a hit. Also, I have to wonder how this will tarnish the perception of a degree from Penn State. Like it or not, being associated with the school and listing your degree as being from there could be the small thing that gets a potential employer to hire someone else over you.

But these things pale in comparison to the horror that was inflicted on these young people for so long. I can't imagine what they've been through and will go through as their lives are put on public display in the weeks and months to come. I can only pray for them to find peace and the help they will need--not only now, but for their entire lives. I hope and pray they can find the right kind of people who are worthy of their trust to help them through this healing process--one that will probably never end for many of them.

A New Routine: Tuesday Workout

2011-11-08T20:05:00.000-06:00

Second day of my new routine (I'm not counting Sunday as part of the routine. It was done because I missed a couple of days last week and to be up, around and moving). Yesterday was about swimming and trying to get in a bit of run before darkness descended (have I mentioned I think Daylight Savings Time (aka renaming light)is lame?!?) And it will only get worse before it gets better!)

Swimming:
900 warm up (3x: 200 swim/50 kick/50 drill)
6x100 swim @ 2:00 (descend 1-3, 4-6)
4x150 pull @ 3:00
3x200 swim @ 4:00 (negative split @ the 100 wall)
2x300 pull (#1: free/non-free by 50, #2: 3/5 breathing pattern)
200 cool down
*3500 Total*Time:
55 minutes 36.35 seconds

Running/Jogging:4.85 miles
Time: 50 minutes 08 seconds. (Average pace: 10:20 per mile)

A New Routine: Sunday and Monday Workouts

2011-11-07T18:15:00.000-06:00

Now that I've finished my half marathon for the year, I'm trying to keep my exercise routine interesting and one that will challenge me in new ways. Also, it'd be nice to try and not gain much, if any weight, over the holidays. So, I'm shaking things up a bit with the goal of working on my core (which I let get weak during the half marathon training) and getting some more strength workouts in there. Luckily, the Y kicked off a new era of Body Pump about this time, giving me a good excuse to try it out. So far, I've been to three classes and enjoyed them all (well, enjoyed them after I was done). Last week saw a disruption to what I'd ideally like to do, so I'm counting it as week zero. This is week one of the new routine to try and keep things interesting for me, deal with the time change (it impacts the ability to run outside since it gets dark earlier!) and to try and gain some strength and speed in the pool. Also, I hope to become more aerodynamic (nice way of saying shed some pounds).

The goal is to get ready for the next indoor triathlon in early 2012. In the last three, my swim time has helped me achieve my overall goal for the event each time and I'd like to see that continue. Of the three legs, swimming is my strongest (and favorite).

And since my smart phone apps don't necessarily always translate classes as well I'd like, I've decided that I'll record what I do in my blog to have a record of it and find ways to tweak it as I go along.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Swimming: 34 laps (1 mile) in 29 minutes
Running (treadmill): 3.5 miles in 30 minutes

Monday, November 7, 2011

Swimming:
400 swim/200 kick warm up
4x150 w/fins @ 3:00 (100 swim/50 kick)
4x150 @ 3:30 (50 free/50 non-free/50 free)
4x150 pull @ 3:00 (descend 1-4)
4x150 swim w/:15 seconds rest (3/5/7 breathing pattern by 50)
6x100 @ 2:00 (2 fast, 2 medium, 2 easy)
*3600 Total*
Time: 1 hour, 2 minutes
Workout Taken From This Site (A great resource to shake up the swim routine)

Ultimate Cardio Class: 30 minutes

Body Pump: 45 minutes

Vols vs MTSU Hiaku

2011-11-04T18:38:00.001-05:00

Out of conference
State bragging rights on the line
One step toward bowl

Book Snobbery

2011-10-27T12:17:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or does anyone else ever get depressed when you browse the New Books shelves at the local library and find a book you love just sitting there, begging to be checked out and meanwhile knowing that thousands of people are re-reading the horrifically bad Twilight novels for the hundred and fiftieth time?

Look, I have nothing against the Twilight novels other than they're poorly written featuring characters who make me want to reach into the page and slap them as hard as I can (Bella, especially) and a storyline that's a blatant and terrible rip-off of the Buffy and Angel storyline, only without the depth or subtext. But it just pains me sometimes to know that people are re-reading these again and again when the new Laura Lippman novel is just sitting there, begging to be read. Or that Ready Player One is sitting on the shelves and that it's one of the more fun, engaging and entertaining books I've read in a while. Oh sure, it's not terribly deep and it's not going to be mistaken for great literature any time soon, but it's still a fun read that I'd highly recommend to just about anyone.

Does this make me a book snob? Or even more of one that I think I am?

The sad answer is, probably so.

The Rumblings Have Begun....

2011-10-24T12:24:00.000-05:00

Listening to the sports call-in shows this morning, I'm not sure which Tennessee fanbase is more frustrated after this weekend's events--the Vols or the Titans.

Look, I think most of us knew going into the Alabama game that the Vols would have a tough time hanging with Alabama for an entire game. But I don't want to take a moral victory because we were able to keep it close for a half. We've had a couple of these moral victories this year and I'm honestly ready to see that translate into something more like a win or actually being competitive in the third quarter. This year, the Vols have been flat in the third quarter all season and the conversation on-line and on sports call in shows is starting to get pretty ugly. I'm not sure what, if any, adjustments are being made at half-time but they're just not working. It's painful to watch at times.

And while I'm not ready to give up on the coaching staff, I think the excuse of lack of players is starting to wer a bit thin. At some point, you've got to coach them up a bit or find some creative ways to work within your limitations to do something great and give the team a burst of energy. I like Dooley and his staff and don't really want to see them be some interim group that does just enough to hang around in mediocrity for the next year or two. It's time to step up and get that signature win or close out a game or something. You have a fanbase that is yearning, begging for something to hang our hat on....and while I like beating Vandy and Kentucky as much as the next fan, those aren't exactly signature efforts or wins.

Meanwhile, the Titans....oh how ugly that game was yesterday. Did someone forget to tell them that the bye was last week?!? Because apparently no one from the Titans showed up at LP Field yesterday to play. At this point, I'm ready to give up on Chris Johnson for this season because apparently he got the playmaker money but doesn't want to make plays anymore. Every announcing team that comes to call a Titans game talks about how this could be the week he gets on track...and then it never happens. Of course, it might help if it seemed like he was the only one who didn't give any effort, but unfortunately he's one of many players who have phoned it in the past few weeks. I realize that Kenny Britt is a big loss, but seriously could we not have someone step up and make some plays. Again, you have a fanbase that is eager for something good to happen and we see nothing good happening out there for the past two weeks. I have a bad feeling this week's game vs the Colts could be a ugly one.

Vols vs Bama Haiku

2011-10-21T11:27:00.000-05:00

Vols huge underdogs
Crimson Tide looks very good
Traditional game

Toss out record books
Almost beat them years ago
Series goes in streaks

The Middle Half 2011

2011-10-16T07:09:00.001-05:00

I still get nervous before a race. It doesn't matter that I've done three half marathons and a handful of 5Ks and a 10K, for some reason, I still get a bit nervous. Not so nervous that I can't function, mind you. Just a feeling of nervous anticipation as I ponder all the things that can go right or wrong during the next few minutes or hours.

Three years ago, I lined up for my first half marathon, curious to see if I could complete the endurance test that is running 13.1 miles. I passed and was encouraged enough to sign up again the next year and then again this year. I compete against myself in these events, trying to find ways to improve things as I work toward them each year. I realize that it's foolish to compare myself to everyone around me because I'll always be slower than some, faster than others. And that's OK because we've all got different fitness levels.

Yesterday's race started with a beautiful sunrise. Just gorgeous and spectacular. The weather was a bit on the cool side, which is perfect for running. (I'd rather be a bit cool than too hot). There was a cool breeze for much of the race--enough to cool you off but not enough to make things difficult as a headwind.

One of the things I like most about the Middle Half (besides that fact that it's a fairly even elevation) is I think the first half has some beautiful scenery. It helps to have that distraction beyond just the music on the iPod (seriously, how did people run long distances before we could easily store a bazillion hours of music on such a small, compact device?!?) and the first half of the Middle Half has that in spades. It could be part of the reason I always do better on the first half...or it could be just a signal that I need to work on my endurance a bit more.

In the end, I finished about the same or a bit slower than I did last year. It gives me something to work on and some things to improve over the next year or so. But as always, it was a lot of fun and a great sense of accomplishment when I finished it. And there's nothing like running a long distance to help make water and Gatorade taste so good!

Vols vs LSU Haiku

2011-10-14T16:15:00.002-05:00

Number one visits
Redemption bid on the line
Must play perfect game

Lots of injuries
Vols almost won game last year
Need some good karma

TV Round-Up: Breaking Bad: "Face Off"

2011-10-11T11:43:00.000-05:00

All season long, Walt has been playing a game of chess with Gus, always a dozen or so moves behind on things.

Finally, Walt finds a blind spot for Gus and one that he's able to exploit to finally win the game, get out from his contract with Gus and find a way to save his family and Jesse. Walt's also got the added bonus that Gus took out the Cartel, leaving a huge power vacuum in the meth community, one I fully expect his Heisenberg personality to fill as the final season begins sometime next summer.

That still doesn't mean Walt has necessarily won for the long term. Walt's initial desire for entering the meth trade was to find a way to provide for his family after his death. And while the cancer was in remission, several points in the final four or so episodes seem to point to it being back, even if Walt isn't telling anyone it is. This season, we saw Walt and Skylar worrying about how they'd launder all the huge sums of cash they had from the meth business. Now it appears Walt is once again back to square one on the money because of a crisis and his belief that the money can buy him out of all circumstances (a belief Skylar shares as she tries to buy off Ted to get the IRS off her trail). I get the feeling one portion of Walt's demise will be the IRS showing up to question some things about where all this money is coming from. And while family and friends are willing to believe the gambling story, it looks like it could collapse under any kind of scrutiny.

Of course, that's assuming that Jesse doesn't figure out how many ways of Sunday Walt has manipulated him. First it was letting Jane die, now it's the implication that Walt poisoned the kid to push Jesse into his corner. We've seen that their partnership has been on shaky footing this year and while they had to join forces in the final episodes this year, it won't take much to tip the balance back to the rift we saw this year. And at some point, you get the feeling that Jesse could sell Walt out to save his own skin--or that of the girlfriend and her son. It's fairly certain that the Jesse is on the radar of the law enforcement community--not just local but also federal.

The final few hours of season four of Breaking Bad were all about ratcheting up the tension and then paying it off brilliantly. Watching last week as Walt tried to take out Gus was edge-of-your-seat good as was all of this week. Walt finally came up with a plan that put him out ahead of Gus and while he won this round, I have a feeling he's lost his soul.

I can't believe the season is over. And that we've only got sixteen hours of this brilliant show left.

What I Saw This Weekend

2011-10-10T04:46:00.000-05:00

Both teams from Tennessee (both pro and college) were at a crossroads in terms of their seasons. The Vols and Titans had some early successes that kindled some optimism but there were still a lot of questions out there. Both teams faced big tests this past weekend.

And, unfortunately, both teams failed the tests.

The Vols had everything lined up to take the next step in their return from the end of the Fulmer era and the year under he-who-shall-not-be-named. But the issues that have plagued us all year on both sides of the ball reared their ugly head and just wouldn't go away. The lack of ability to snap the ball consistently is plaguing us, throwing off timing. (And it could only get worse with Tyler Bray out due to his broken hand). The inability to run the ball and have consistent place kicking (seriously, we have a whole soccer team over there. Surely one of those players would like the chance to place kick! Hell, we've got a whole women's team we could audition as well. Either that or we put the UT Medical Center on figuring out a way to clone the Colquitts so we can have a punter again. Or maybe Jeff Hall has a son or daughter who is ready to step onto campus....) haunted us. Meanwhile, I think the Vols lost a lot of momentum when the refs took away our touchdown that would have tied the game. At that point, the air seemed to drain out of the team and Neyland Stadium.

The one piece of good news that I see is, ya know, Matt Simms played well enough to almost beat LSU last year. So, you never know.... (Yes, my glasses are orange-tinted...why do you ask?)

Meanwhile, the Titans....oh, the Titans.

It's like we have some mental block on the Steelers. I refuse to blame their terrible towel curse since I have to point this out yet again--it's just a stupid piece of fabric!!!!! Steeler fans who get all up in arms when anyone questions their stupid terrible towel make me ill.

But for some reason, the Titans looked like that pathetic team that played Jacksonville instead of the team we saw the last three weeks. I think a big part of it was the multiple chance to get a TD on the first drive and coming away with only a field goal. Another is the fact that Chris Johnson got his playmaker money, but hasn't earned it this year. He got his cash, but I guess we don't get any of his dash.

A terrible weekend for my favorite teams....well, maybe not the Redskins who on a bye got some distance from Philly and New York, who both lost. How long and hard did I laugh to see the Philly dream team go to 1-4? Long and very, very hard....

Vols vs Georgia Haiku

2011-10-07T17:32:00.002-05:00

Season defining
Turn up the heat on the Dawgs
Defend home field

I have a special place of dislike deep in my soul for UGA. Many of their fans are miserable whether they win or lose...so let's make them miserable by losing!

The last two meetings in God's house have gone our way in a huge way. If we can jump on them early and often, I am hopeful for great things!

Go Big Orange!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TV Round-Up: Doctor Who -- The Wedding of River Song

2011-10-03T12:44:00.000-05:00

As Doctor Who closes in on its fiftieth anniversary, it's nice to know that while the future is bright, this new chapter and celebration appears it will be built on paying homage to long, rich history that has come before it. No where was that more evident than in Saturday evening's cliffhanger that once again tries to inject the "Who?" back into Doctor Who.

The concept of delving into the exact nature of who and what the Doctor is isn't new. The series did it in the mid-80s under script editor Andrew Cartmel and his infamous "Cartmel masterplan." And while fans can argue until the Gallifreyeans come home about whether or not Cartmel had an end-game for the questions he and his writing staff raised, it's nice to know that this time around there will probably be some kind of plan and end-point to the conversation about just "who is the Doctor?"

Namely because we have Steven Moffat in charge. And while I don't necessarily believe he's got every little nuance worked out, I still have enough faith in him to have an end point in mind and work toward it.

The sixth series finale of Doctor Who only confirmed that again for me.

Moffat understands that you can give the audience answers, assume they're intelligent enough to follow a long-term storyline that offers pay-offs along the line and still tickle their curiosity over the course of just under 50-minutes of running time. The fact that he does all that, while telling a pretty compelling story is just further testament that fans are watching an era with as much story telling confidence as we got in the days when Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks or Phillip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes were running the show.

"The Wedding of River Song" felt like the type of sweeping episode that "The End of Time" was trying to be (and pretty much coming up short). Coupled with last week's "Closing Time," we get to see the Doctor resignedly accepting his fate that it's his time to die and then finding a way to cheat it. After far too long of having the Doctor be some kind of intergalactic superhero, so revered that many of those he's helped during this travels would show up to aid him in his final hour, we see the Doctor find a way to pull back into the shadows a bit. The Doctor sets up his own death to be a game to withdraw from what the legend he's become and I can't wait to see where Moffat will take the series next season.

Once again, Moffat almost demands that upon watching this episode that you go back to all of his pivotal episodes and watch them again for clues he put in place there. He also continues his willingness to examine the nature of time travel and its implications. The idea that time stopped because River couldn't accept killing the Doctor, thus creating two moments in conflict was nicely done. Again, Moffat is able to bring back familiar faces and have them be not only welcome but also pivotal to the story he's telling (again, unlike every other Russell T. Davies season ender, especially the incredibly self-indulgent "The End of Time").

And just like we saw last year, Moffat is confident enough in his audience, his show, his cast and his writers to offer enough answers to be satisfying but also to leave some things dangling for next season. And he's got this fan eager to see where the journey will take us next.

It's going to be a long hiatus....

Tennessee vs Buffalo Haiku

2011-09-30T18:37:00.002-05:00

Calm before the storm
Vols have win streak over MAC
Start October right

And to help get you in the spirit, here's Rocky Top!!!!!!!!!
Go Big Orange!!!!!!!!!

TV Round-Up: Breaking Bad & Doctor Who

2011-09-15T12:28:00.000-05:00

Doctor Who: The Girl Who Waited
Classic Doctor Who rarely delved into the emotional lives of the companions and the impact that traveling through time with the Doctor had on them. (The NAs started this, though their take that every companion was somehow permanently stunted by traveling with the Doctor got a bit old after a while). The new series, especially under the direction of Steven Moffat has delved a bit more into this and, for the most part, the results have been pretty solid.

And then they go and hit you out of left field with something like this episode. I have to be honest--based on the preview I wasn't expecting much. So, I was surprised about halfway through the story when I found myself completely caught up in what was happening.

Amy's waited for the Doctor all her life. It's part of her story (and to a lesser extent, it's part of Rory's as well). She waited for him to come back all growing up and here she's forced to wait for him to come back and rescue her again.....a wait that takes almost 36 years. Give Karen Gillan credit for pulling off the two versions of Amy and doing it well. What we saw here with the older, much more bitter Amy was some of her best work in the show. Could it be that the fact that she lost not only much of her childhood, but also her daughter's childhood and is then forced to survive alone as she awaits the Doctor's rescue has finally pushed her over the edge?

This sequence, coupled with the fact that the Doctor lies to all of them about being able to save both Amys leads me to suspect somehow the older, bitter Amy could be in the space suit.

It's my theory for now and it makes a good bit of sense. (Again, at least for now)

The episode, written by Tom DeRae, did just about everything right. It should be interesting to see what, if any, impact these events have on the bigger questions lingering over the final run of episodes this season.

Breaking Bad: Hermanos, Bug
Over the past season, I've been predicting that the IRS would enter the picture at some point and, quite possibly be the way in which Walt is brought down. And it appears that is coming to fruition with the IRS sniffing around Ted Beneke's finances. And since Skylar's name is all over those books, it's only a matter of time before they start looking into her financial situation--especially if she does what I am afraid she might do and pays off Ted's IRS debt. As we've seen all season, Skylar is comfortable on the surface with Walt being a high power criminal player. But when reality rears its ugly head, she isn't quite as comfortable with things and she, like Walt, scrambles to find a solution of whatever corner she's painted into for the moment without thinking how it will impact things long term.

Speaking of Walt, watching the last two episodes, I couldn't help but wonder if the show is trying to create some parallels between Walt and Gus. Both men entered into the world of producing meth with certain naive ideas of how things would unfold, only to see reality smack them firmly in the face. The one big difference between the two (so far) is that Gus seems less reactionary that Walt. Walt wants immediate revenge or satisfaction. Gus seems to have a long term vision for how to enact his revenge or how to take advantage of the opportunities as they arise. The final scene last week when he tormented Tio summed that up fairly well. This week, however, it looks like Gus may be losing some of the control he's worked so hard to create. He's giving in to the Cartel's demands for the blue-meth formula (possibly to take the heat off him from Hank?) and he seems to be ready to cut Walt out of the picture. I wonder if someone close to Walt will die before season's end in much the same way Gus' original partner did in the flashback?

In between these two is Jesse, who is conflicted in his loyalties. Both Gus and Walt are offering bits of what he needs most, but neither offers it enough to help him make a decision. The fight between Gus and Walt was a long time coming and whether it signals a permanent rift between the two remains to be seen. Could we see Walt betrayed by Jesse? Or even Jesse using the poison Walt has created against him?

And suddenly we have only a few episodes left in the season to answer these questions. I'm also sure Vince Gilligan and company will come up with a few more twists and turns along the way to make sure the wait for new episodes is a long one....

Vols vs Gators Haiku

2011-09-14T07:14:00.000-05:00

Vols first big road test
Dooley should wear orange pants
Let's go drain the swamp!

And to help get you in the mood for Saturday's clash in the swamp, here's one of my favorite bluegrass groups playing Rocky Top!!!!!!!!!

Go Big Orange!!!!!!!!!!!

Tennessee 42, Cincinnati 23

2011-09-11T11:52:00.002-05:00

For the first time since 2006, the Vols are 2-0.

Just take a moment and let that sink in.

It's a good feeling.

It's made even better based on what I saw on the field yesterday. Three huge plays in the game went Tennessee's way. Plays were made and momentum squarely came to reside on our sideline. I love the on-side kick-off call by Dooley and I love how our defense settled in and stopped two fourth-and-one attempts by the Bearcats. And they weren't even close to being made. Add in that Cincinnati got the ball first and goal from the one and couldn't score on three straight plays late in the game and I feel as though our defense made the necessary step from game one to game two.

Offensively, it looks like we're going to depend on the pass to set up the run. Our run game started out slow, but wore down their defense. Whether that can continue once we get into SEC play remains to be seen. I doubt a defense like LSU would wear down over time like the Bearcats did yesterday.

But I don't want to look too far ahead. I want to savor the victory (unlike some Tennessean columnist who can't let fans enjoy a victory too long...seriously David Climer, do you get paid more the more you diss the Vols? If Vandy had so thoroughly dominated most of the game as the Vols did yesterday, you'd be singing their praises for inch after inch of column space.)

I'm savoring the moment. Tomorrow we can look ahead to a showdown in the Swamp.

Vols vs Bearcats Preview

2011-09-08T19:01:00.001-05:00

The test gets a bit more difficult this week, but I think the Vols can do it. Provided we clean up some mistakes from last week, improve our running game and make some big improvements on the offensive line!

"Space, The Final Frontier...."

2011-09-08T12:16:00.000-05:00

Forty-five years ago today, those immortal words were first heard by the American viewing audience. I wasn't alive when classic Star Trek first began airing, but I've been aware of it for a lot of my life. A lot of this is thanks to the motion picture franchise. Ads for Star Trek: The Motion Picture were plastered all across several comic books I had growing up and I recall begging my mom to take me to see it when it arrived at the base theater in Hawaii. Being a Star Wars fan, I had visions of the movie being something similar...yeah, not so much.

But it still inspired something in me to explore more. I collected a series of Power Records that featured original adventures of the Enterprise crew and really liked those. I remember visiting my grandparents in Memphis one summer around this time and seeing that Star Trek was on TV that night. Again, I begged my mom to watch and she eventually let me, though we had to tune out early.

And then, along came Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and the summer of 1982. A local station ran a couple of nights of Star Trek repeats in primetime and I tuned in, getting hooked. Add in a long, cross-country move with a couple of Star Trek novels to help pass the time (one of them was "Mudd's Angels" which novelized the two Mudd stories and offered a new Mudd adventure) and it was inevitable I guess....

Many of my favorite episodes to this day are ones my dad recommended to me and that we watched together one of my first times through the franchise. (For example, "A Taste of Armageddon" (aka the one with the war run by computers)). I'm sure he never imagined what he was creating when he introduced me to the show....

It's a love I hope to share someday if I'm blessed with kids or with my niece and nephew. Odds are my nephew could enjoy Star Trek since he already has a love of Star Wars.

Years later, I still love classic Star Trek. The original 79 episodes aren't all perfect, but there's something to like about just about all of them. In many ways, Star Trek was my first big franchise love. Classic Trek is my second favorite TV show of all-time, coming in just behind Doctor Who.

And it all began forty-five years ago tonight. With "The Man Trap." Yeah, not exactly a top ten classic, but still a solid introduction to the universe.

And while I understand that there are some who love the new effects, I'm still not entirely sold. I love how incredible the re-mastering has made the original series look again--so vibrant and colorful. I'm seeing things I'd missed for years on UHF stations and VHS tapes. But I'm glad the Blu-Rays let me toggle between updated effects and the originals. If the new effects bring in new fans, who discover why I love this series so much, so be it. Hopefully they see the great stories, the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic and all the other little things that make Trek among the greatest tv shows ever made.

Vols vs Cincinatti Haiku

2011-09-07T20:17:00.002-05:00

Challenge gets bigger
Don't overlook the Bearcats
Vols must step up

And now, here's another version of Rocky Top to help get you in the Big Orange mood! (This week, it's by Dolly!)

Go Big Orange!!!!!!!!!

Retro TV Round-Up: Star Trek: "The Enemy Within"

2011-09-07T12:01:00.001-05:00

"The Enemy Within" is the first time in the classic series run (both in air order and production order) that we see duplicate versions of some of our familiar characters. (Interestingly, we'll get a copy of Kirk made in just two more episodes). But of all the copies of various character stories that original series created, this one may be the most interesting from a character stand-point.

Oh sure, it's fun to see evil mirror images of the familiar cast and crew in season two, but "The Enemy Within" explores something a bit deeper and more fundamental--what it takes to be a leader and how we need both the positive and negative aspects of our psyche in order to fully function in the world.

The script is by Richard Matheson, who penned a lot of Twilight Zone episodes as well as some great books and short stories. Interestingly, he penned the classic Zone episode "Terror at 20,000 Feet." Both stories gave William Shatner a lot of scenery to chew, though I'd argue that his work here in "Within" is a bit stronger and more scenery chewing. As with many of Matheson's other stories, the exact scientific explanation for how some bizarre situation has come to be isn't the important thing (in this case, it's simply that some yellow dust throws a monkey wrench into the transporter), it's exploring the impact it has on an "everyman" type of character.

In this case, that everyman is Captain James T. Kirk who through a transporter malfunction is split into to two halves--one half that is the positive half and the other a negative one. The first quarter of the episode sees both Kirks roaming the ship, each blissfully unaware the other exists and acting as befits the series of traits each is given. Good Kirk has the compassion and intelligence though he lacks the fire of making a command decision. Dark Kirk is pretty much a horndog, who is ruled by any impulse that comes to him and has virtually no patience or restraint. But for all that, he still has some shame, given that each time he acts on his instinct and it doesn't go well, he retreats and wants to hide from potential punishment.

Eventually, Scotty realizes the transporter has an issue and they have to shut the whole thing down. This creates an additional tension of stranding a landing party on the surface of the planet with the temperature rapidly plummeting. (The episode was filmed fourth and the only thing I can think of is they hadn't decided to include shuttlecraft at this stage of the game. Either that or it makes it too easy a dilemma for Kirk). As the good Kirk struggles with the decision on what to do, dark Kirk has no qualms. At one point, he knocks out good Kirk and then heads to the bridge, deciding that he'll abandon the landing party and move on. (This comes late in the episode and helps serve as a clue to the crew that things aren't on the up and up).

As I said, it's a fascinating examination of leadership and the qualities that make a good leader. I'd seen the episode multiple times before I headed out to UT for freshman English and for one of my first papers, I compared what we see here with Kirk to arguments made in "The Prince." Especially of interest were the comments by Spock that Kirk didn't have the luxury of appearing weak to the crew or letting it slip that he's human. I ended up getting an A on the paper and doing such a good job that I set the bar really high for all other output that semester.

But that's not the only reason I have a fondness for this episode. Another is that during the 25th anniversary of the show, I convinced multiple friends on several occasions to ride into Washington DC with me for the 25th Anniversary Star Trek exhibit at the Air and Space Museum.

To say I ate this exhibit up with a spoon is an understatement. And while seeing props from the show, models of the ships and reading about the impact Trek has had and how it reflected the times it aired, one of the most fascinating parts of the exhibit was an original script for this episode. The script had Matheson's original dialogue for the pivotal scene where McCoy and Spock debate what's happened to Kirk, with much of it crossed out and the familiar dialogue from the episode penciled in.

Both of those aspects just add to the cool factor of this episode for me.

Not that it's a perfect one, mind you. If you watch closely, you can see how certain scenes were moved around in editing (mostly in the first act...watch the scenes with the duplicate dog and the transporter). Also, the third act drags a bit. Once we recapture dark Kirk, a lot of time is spent wondering if and when Scotty will fix things (dark Kirk manages to fire a phaser into a vital circuit board when captured). Of course, we know the show won't let the landing party die and we know Kirk has to be restored to his usual self by episode's end. It's almost like a four-part Doctor Who story in which little happens to advance the plot in the third episode.

That said, it's still a solid, entertaining and fascinating episode. It's also historic in that it features the first use of the Vulcan nerve pinch.

TV Round-Up: Doctor Who -- Night Terrors

2011-09-05T09:29:00.000-05:00

While I enjoy much of what the new series of Doctor Who has to offer, it's still nice every once in a while to have a story like "Night Terrors" that feels like it could easily slip into just about any season of the classic run without too much difficulty.

Mark Gattis' script is a fairly straight-forward one, dealing with a child who is terrified of being alone in the dark of his bedroom. His parents, trying to help him deal with his fears, have "locked" the fears all up in his bedroom cupboard. But the plan hasn't soothed Gordon who is ably to psychically summon the Doctor to help him confront the monsters that lurk there.

Surreal stories have had their place in Doctor Who since the early 60's ("The Celestial Toymaker," "The Mind Robber" "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy") and it's nice to see the new series embrace that a bit here.

Watching the story, I predicted where Amy and Rory were long before they put it all together, but that still didn't make the story any less entertaining or interesting. I was happy that the story made Gordon's fear something as "simple" as a child wanting to be sure his parents loved him and wouldn't send him away instead of something a bit more sinister.

Visually, the story was a treat with lots of dark corners, shadows and the image of people being turned into living dolls probably scaring or frightening more than one younger viewer. (It certainly unsettled this much older viewer). It's easy to imagine that if this story were made during the Gothic-heyday of the Tom Baker/Phillip Hincliffe/Robert Holmes era that a certain leading critic would be up in arms about the unsettling nature of things on the screen. That puts "Night Terrors" in some solid company among stories that are the best in the entire run of Doctor Who.

While not quite as much of a treat as "The Doctor's Wife," "Night Terrors" is still among the better stories from the current series. It reminds of just how creepy Doctor Who can be when it wants to be.

Vols 42, Montana 16

2011-09-04T07:12:00.005-05:00

Sometimes it's easy to forget how much I love football....and then the first Tennessee game of the year kicks-off and I remember.

Thankfully, the Vols made the outcome certain early in the game with a couple of huge plays in the first quarter. The passing game on big plays looked good and we converted several third and shorts and fourth and shorts during the game (a glaring weakness last year) . And the defense looked disciplined at times, pursuing the ball and making some solid stops and good tackles.

Now for the not so good. Our offensive line, reportedly one of the big strengths of the team, didn't push anyone around enough and our running game was anemic. The stats for the game running make it look OK, but overall things really didn't get rolling until the fourth quarter. It could be that Montana is a team with more upperclassmen playing or it could be that we still need a lot of work here.

If I'm a coach at Cincinnati and Florida, I immediately game plan to shut down the big play passes and make the running game and Tyler Bray's shorter passing game beat them.

But let's not overlook that the Vols won the game and started off the season on a solid note. It's great to have football back!

TV Round-Up: Breaking Bad

2011-09-01T13:52:00.000-05:00

"Problem Dog"
What was once a show exclusively about Walt has, in many cases, made Walt almost a supporting character this year. Walt is still fascinating to watch, but what's really interesting is how compelling all the supporting characters have become over the past several years.

First and foremost is Jesse, who this week agrees to help Walt take out Gus. Or does he? Watching the episode, I couldn't help but wonder if Walt's asking Jesse to kill Gus won't lead to a betrayal of some kind. All season, Gus has been working to split up the team of Walt and Jesse, driving a wedge between them. As Vince Gilligan has said, this season is a chess match between Walt and Gus. If so, what piece is Jesse? Or what piece is he to each player of the game? I think he's more than just a simple pawn the two push around...maybe more like a bishop or a knight. (I'm not as strong in my chess playing ability as I should be, so I could be way off base here).

But now with Jesse having the poison to take out Gus, any scene in which Gus and Jesse appears becomes tension filled. Will Jesse follow through? Can he handle the guilt from killing another human being? It's interesting to see how little Walt agonizes over the deaths he's caused over the years and how much Jesse does. The scene with Jesse playing the video game as he tries to confront what he's done to Gale was nicely done.

Next up, there's Skylar, who while she once embraced the Walt is a drug cook lifestyle and wanted to help it keep the family together is slowly realizing that Walt may be in deeper than she thought or imagined. Last week, Walt scared her with his statement of his place in the drug empire and this week she's flabbergasted by how much money Walt makes and the difficulties of laundering $7 million plus a year. Clearly the car wash isn't going to be enough, but how many other legal businesses can they acquire before the IRS comes sniffing around.

Speaking of that, one of the early running plots on the show was how despite the sheer volume of cash Jesse and Walt brought it, it was never enough to cover their fumbles and mistakes. We get a hint of that there when Walt has to pay a huge price tag to get rid of the evidence he trashed Walt Jr.'s new car by doing doughnuts in an empty parking lot and then setting the car on fire. Saul asking for the money and giving us the total just reminded me of early days when Walt and Jesse had to make more meth to cover the bills from the last boneheaded move. It also doesn't solve the problem of Walt buying the car and not returning it. Perhaps it was insured, but even that could raise some questions. I can't imagine they've introduced this plot only to have it end here.

Perhaps it will finally all register with Hank, who is back on his feet this week and back in the game as it were. The scene with Hank pitching just how Gus could be a drug kingpin was nice, as was his final ace in the hole. Clearly the noose is about to get a bit tighter for Walt and company...and I can't wait.

Only Two More Days!

2011-08-31T17:38:00.001-05:00

Previewing the 2011 Vols

2011-08-31T12:14:00.001-05:00

Only a couple of more days until it's football time in Tennessee!

What can we expect this year? I expect a team that is making steps forward though the overall wins and losses may not reflect that. I can see the Vols going 8-4 or 7-5 if some things break out way, we take care of business when expected and we can find an "upset" win or two.

For more, check out the video below:

UT vs Montana Haiku

2011-08-31T03:44:00.002-05:00

Grizzlies come to town
Vols look to build on last year
Win home opener

Go Big Orange!!!!!!!!!!!!

And to make sure you're fired up, let's hear Rocky Top!!!!!!!

TV Round-Up: Doctor Who -- Let's Kill Hitler

2011-08-29T12:38:00.000-05:00

One of the chief criticisms lobbed at Doctor Who in the 80s was that it became too insular with certain stories being so stepped in what's come before that novice fans would have a difficult if not an impossible time not just figuring out what was going on in the story much less enjoying it. As someone who discovered the classic series during this particular era and saw several of the stories in question on their initial U.S. syndication run, I can say this was definitely the case in a couple of cases.

And while I love what Steven Moffat is doing with the modern day series, I'm rapidly becoming concerned the series is on the verge of becoming less welcoming to new or casual fans. There's a fine line between rewarding fans for being faithful to a series and being too reliant on continuity so that you make your series frustratingly less than accessible to casual or even new fans.

The summer return of the series, "Let's Kill Hitler" is a prime example. It has a lot of rewards for long time fans as well as few new avenues to explore as series six plays out over the next five weeks. But it was so dense on the mythology of River Song and the entire game Moffat is playing with this season and his tenure as producer that I can see how some could come away from the return of the show scratching their heads and wondering just what all went on.*

* The good news for those fans is that unlike back in my day of first watching, the episode are more accessible to catch-up and get up to speed. Back in the 80's I was at the mercy of whatever syndicated episodes my local PBS station ran.

In many ways, "Hitler" echoes the beats played by two-part series premiere, it just does them in reverse order. Instead of the Doctor trying to get the attention of Rory, Amy and River, it's those three companions trying to get his attention**. You can also add in that the Doctor knows when and where he dies and that it's a fixed point in the time space continuum, but he's keeping that from Amy, Rory and River. Meanwhile, those three know how he dies and have been keeping that from him.***

* I won't even bring up the question of just how Rory and Amy got from the space station at the end of "A Good Man Goes to War" to back home, trying to attract the Doctor's attention.

** Seeing all the lies taking place among everyone made me think I was watching an episode of House with his motto of "Everyone lies."

Thankfully, the premise of going back in time to kill Hitler is only the focus of the story for the first fifteen or so minutes. Instead of trying to tell a story about time paradoxes or pulling a Bill and Ted, Moffat uses idea of going back in time to remove Hitler as bait for the hook and then opens the story up to being something more.

Give Moffat a lot of credit--this story was packed to the gills with ideas that could have easily been their own episode, if explored a bit more. The concept of aliens who live inside a shape-changing robot and travel through time to make various criminals pay for their crimes is an intriguing one. You also had the plotline of Amy and Rory's best friend growing up turning out to be their daughter and someone who is programmed to seek out and kill the Doctor. And then we see the regeneration of Mel into River and her first ever meeting with the Doctor.

And while I like how Moffat is clearly playing a long game with River and the on-going storyline, part of me is hoping he's going to find a way to wrap it up by the end of this series. At some point, the answers aren't going to be satisfying because the questions have been lingering for so long.

That said, I'll be disappointed if Amy and Rory are satisfied that they knew Mel growing up and stop looking for Melody. While they know how the story ends and that their daughter turns out OK, I'm not sure emotionally that will be enough. As we see in the TARDIS, the Doctor understands there are implications to traveling with him. And while what had to happen to Donna was tragic, the idea that Amy and Rory have to give up their child's childhood and formative years to play a role in some bigger cosmic game seems far more tragic and devastating than having to wipe out Donna's memory and her dying if she ever remembers her time with the Doctor. Hopefully Amy and Rory will have some continued fall-out from this and not just go back into the "hey, let's have wacky adventures and avoid things" as we saw earlier this year.

Now, I don't want it to sound like I was completely down on the episode. There was a lot to like about "Hitler." The biggest asset was the performance by Matt Smith. It's easy to see him each week as the Doctor and forget, at times, how solid the work he's doing here really is. But then Moffat steps up and gives him a tour-de-force like the Doctor dying and his body slowly shutting down. Watching physically as the Doctor's body starts to shut down was marvelous from a physical standpoint. Smith seemed to be made of the same stuff as actor Jim Carey as the Doctor faced one leg shutting down and wrestled with the poison slowly killing him.

In a lot of ways, I'm conflicted about "Hitler." There were parts of it I really liked, but parts of it were frustrating. I'm really hoping that Moffat will wrap-up his current masterplan by series' end. It's not that I don't like it or haven't enjoyed it, but I really think I'm ready for the big payoff and then exploring some new, interesting avenue.

TV Round-Up: Breaking Bad

2011-08-25T12:15:00.001-05:00

"Cornered"
Over the course of the series, Walt's Heinsenberg personality seems to come out with the most force when Walt is backed into a corner. And this week, that trend continues as Walt slowly feels like he's losing control of everything in his life and calls on Heisenberg to push back.

After Skylar pushes him that this could be the time to get out and go to the police because she sees him as just a cog in the meth making machine, Walt pushes back hard. Just as he did last week at Hank's, Walt's ego won't allow him not to take credit for becoming the power player he believes he is. (I'm not sure he's there yet, but it's coming). Walt refuses to allow Skylar to see his criminal side as anything but the lynchpin to the entire empire and without him, nothing could or would happen. Walt's self-delusion is on full display here and for the first time, Skylar really gets a glimpse of the danger that she's invited back into her home. But like a moth to the flame, she is drawn to it, even if it places she and the rest of the family in harm's way.

Walt continues to struggle with the perception people have of him--of his not being the boss. With Jessie getting an expanded role in the operation with Mike, the car wash guy giving him a lecture on how to be the boss and Walt being left alone to clean-up the lab after Jessie goes off with Mike, Walt may think he's the lynchpin, but the reality of things isn't lining up. I'm not sure how he thought bribing the cleaners to come clean up the lab would end in anything good. Gus apparently decides to deport them, which could be a mistake in the overall scheme of things. (Given his issues with the cartel, it's probably not a good idea to leave a loose thread like these three ladies out there). But somehow Walt is genuinely surprised that Gus isn't happy about this development. Walt figures he's got carte blanch to do whatever he wants and Gus has time and again shut that down. At some point, you'd think Walt would learn.

Of course, the season continues to isolate Walt from everyone. Walt reaches out to Walt, Jr by buying him a car. And while Walt learned the lesson in celebrating last week when it came to not buying an expensive bottle of champagne, he apparently didn't have it sink it when it came to buying his son a new guy. I have a feeling the show's emphasis on Walt's lack of forethought on money matters is setting up his downfall when the series ends next year.

And so Walt is now more isolated from the family and Gus is making sure that Jessie is driven away from Walt. The scene where Gus says he sees potential in Jessie was exactly the kind of assurance Jessie has craved all year. He's getting affirmation from Gus and Mike that he only gets from Walt when Walt has their backs against the wall or Walt needs something. Of course, it could all be part of the some bigger game that Gus is playing with Walt (Gilligan has said several time that season four is a chess match between Walt and Gus). If it is, Gus is playing it masterfully because even when Walt correctly realizes that the hold-up last week was all a ruse, Jessie doesn't believe it.

It all leads up to the final chilling moment when Skylar comes back and tells Walt she has to protect the family from the guy who protects the family.

I have a feeling season four is about to kick into high gear....

Titans vs Vikings Pre-Season Game

2011-08-18T12:49:00.000-05:00

Once you get past the initial thrill that live football is being played and broadcast, the first game of the NFL pre-season isn't really all that exciting. In fact, if you miss the first quarter of the first pre-season game, odds are you're going to see a lot of players out there that you'll never hear from again come opening day.

And while I can't say the first game of the pre-season for the Titans last Saturday was any different, I can say that I was pretty excited to head out to LP Field for the game.

It's because I was fortunate enough to win a pretty special experience before the game.

Before this year's draft, I heard a radio ad for a contest--pick the Titans' first pick and you might win a prize pack. So, I surfed over to the site and decided I'd pick Jack Locker as the Titans' potential first-round pick. (I'd heard some conversation on a local call in show that day that speculated that Locker was the one the Titans wanted.)

A few weeks later, the draft happened. The Titans picked Locker. I got pretty excited, but then realized that even though I had the right pick, there could be a lot of other people out there who did as well. I knew from the rules that the correct picks all went into a hat and the winner would be selected. I figured I could take pride in knowing that I'd at least got to the final round of the contest.

And then, I got an e-mail...saying that I'd won. The prize pack included a chance to meet Locker and get his autograph plus four tickets to the home season opener against the Ravens. I was pretty excited about it...until I found out that the season opener was six days before a big day coming up. If the NFL pushed back the season a week, I'd probably miss the game since I'd be on my honeymoon during the Titans vs Ravens game. My bride loves but I'm not sure that love extends enough to postponing our honeymoon a day for a football game.

Thankfully, the NFL worked all this out and the game will go on as scheduled.

The people in charge of connecting me with my winnings contacted me to try and figure out when I'd like to go out to practice and meet and greet Jake Locker. I was eager to go, but I figured since I could take family and friends with me, it might be cool to take my nephew along with me. For one thing, he loves anything that allows him to spend time hanging out with Uncle Michael. For another, I felt that I had a chance to help him catch the football bug at an early age.

Well, turns out that I wouldn't be able to take him. That's because the Titans upped the ante last week, giving me two club level seats to the game and a chance to participate in a pre-game ceremony to welcome back football. I'd get a Locker jersey, get to wear it onto the field and have Locker come over and sign the jersey before the game.

So that's pretty much what happened Saturday evening. In my years of being around football both as a fan and covering it, I've been on the sidelines and field of several venues for viewing the greatest sport EVER created. But I'd never been on the sidelines or field of a pro stadium. I have to admit, even just the pre-game it was pretty inspiring. Watching the players warm up, seeing punts sail over our heads as we lined up on the 20 for the ceremony and seeing all the players up close and personal. It was a very, very cool evening.

Of course, it was helped by the fact that Locker came in and had a marvelous play for a touchdown...if you've watched SportsCenter, you've seen it.

All that, plus the Titans won the game. Pretty exciting.

I'm not sure if the regular season game can top the experience, but I'm sure it will try. Of course, it can easily top it if the Titans beat the Ravens, a team I've learned to dislike as much as I do the Cowboys or the Gators.

Why Expansion Has To Be Done Right

2011-08-17T19:50:00.003-05:00

Frank Cagle's latest Metro Pulse column lays out why expansion has to be done right, if the SEC is going to do it.

The consensus among the smartest and most influential sports writers around the South is that conference expansion is coming. And it likely will include four teams instead of two. It is unfortunate that the conversation has now shifted into a parlor game—who would you pick to join? In addition to A&M, the names mentioned are Oklahoma St., Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Georgia Tech.

If Georgia Tech, a school that used to be in the SEC, and Florida State, in the region, came asking to join the league, it would probably work out. Arkansas and South Carolina joined in recent years. But this isn’t what the latest talk about expansion is about. It’s about stretching the SEC into a national powerhouse. Where does it stop? You want to start going to Arizona for games? Oregon? Twenty teams? A Super Conference outside the control of the NCAA?

If you lose your regionalism, lose your cultural ties, and dilute traditional conference rivalries, you haven’t expanded your conference. You have destroyed it and morphed into something else.

It's interesting that a week that began with headlines about possibly expanding the conference and moving college football toward a playoff system has now suddenly derailed with the conversation of what's been going on at Miami. It's an interesting story, though I did note when ESPN brought it up and listed other schools under investigation recently that they conveniently left out Ohio State. (No, they don't have an agenda...of course not!)

The best take on the Miami situation and revelations I've heard so far is that people in Miami are questioning if they were cheating as much as alleged, why were they not winning more games?

TV Round-Up: Breaking Bad

2011-08-16T14:14:00.000-05:00

"Shotgun"
Vince Gilligan proved in season two that he can be clever when it comes to episode titles. If you go back and look at the titles for each episode featuring the burned teddy bear, you'll notice a pattern. (I wish I'd seen it, but Gilligan revealed this information on the DVD extras).

It's got me thinking about the episode titles for season four--and how two of the first five have centered on guns. Is Gilligan trying to tell us something? Or am I reading too much into things?

Either way, it's still something to ponder.

Not that there wasn't a whole lot to ponder in this one...

As I was watching the episode unfold, I was once again struck by the fact that no matter how smart Walt may think he is, he's still extremely stupid in a lot of ways. Walt may be a genius at producing crystal meth, but as the perceived drug kingpin he wants to be, he's still several steps behind and, at times, his own worst enemy. Once again, the episode featured people slowly chipping away at Walt's own self-image and inflated sense of importance. When he goes to the chicken place to confront Gus, Walt assumes the security cameras must be focused on him with Gus watching his every move. Same thing in the lab as Walt assumes Gus is monitoring him at all times, waiting for Walt to shout at the cameras or do something. I'm going to guess that given how Gus is, he may get a report on Walt's activities and pay someone else to watch his every move.

The chipping away continues at home when Skylar assumes Walt's message left on the machine in a bit of blind panic is more than it is. Walt's emotions comes to the surface out of fear that something bad could go down since Jessie has disappeared. So it's interesting that Walt uses this to his advantage to sleep with Skylar, but then isn't necessarily ready to move back into the house. Later we see Walt, Jr. drinking coffee out of a Beneke mug, reminding Walt that he can't or won't forgive Skylar's indiscretion with Ted. It's also interesting that just as Ted wanted more than Skylar was willing to give, now Skylar wants more than Walt is willing to give. But yet, Walt is still outmaneuvered when Skylar tells Walt, Jr. he's moving back into the house.

Walt is also outmaneuvered by Gus when it comes to Jessie. Walt believes he's the one thing keeping Jessie alive and in the game. But now Gus has given Jessie a greater purpose, meaning and sense of acceptance. He's also given Jessie someone else he could potentially bond with in Mike. We saw Jessie try to reach out to Walt a few weeks ago and Walt reject him because he had other places to be. Mike could be just what Jessie needs to try and get past his grief over killing Gale. After all, Mike knows the impact killing someone under orders can have. And with this, Gus makes another move to isolate Walt....could Gus be putting pieces in place to try and get rid of Walt? After all, he's got a ton of security footage of how to make the meth. And as we saw in the season premiere and were reminded here, Walt and Jessie may not be necessary much longer to the process.

All of this leads to Walt trying to drown his rage in wine. And then the wine does some talking at the dinner table with Hank. Walt, no longer able to take that he isn't getting credit for Gale's notebook, brags that there could be another genius behind Gale and that Gale was simply the student. I loved the look on Skylar's face as Walt smugly says there could be Heisenberg is still out there and that Gale is nothing more than a student. Just as Hank has decided the case was closed, Walt put him back on the scent, re-ignited Hank's passion to take down Heisenberg and has, probably, set another wheel in motion toward his own self-destruction.

No Expansion (At Least For Now)

2011-08-15T09:30:00.003-05:00

After it was reported as all but fact Saturday night, it seems that Texas A&M won't be joining the SEC in 2012 after all.

I've got to admit, I think that's a good thing.

In the long run, I fully believe that the SEC will expand but that it will be for financial reasons. Bringing in more TV markets increases its ability to negotiate for a larger TV contract and it will expand the recruiting base for schools in those areas. Bringing in a school from Texas will probably happen at some point--whether or not it's A&M remains to be seen.

But, I do like that the SEC seems to be willing to sit back and think through the decision and not just rush into something. As I asked Saturday, if you bring in A&M, what is the next team you bring in to even out the number. I've heard rumors of FSU, Clemson and Missouri. There was also discussion of Georgia Tech and maybe a school in Virginia.

I think the SEC is wise to step back and consider who to bring in. I've heard that it doesn't want to bring in any teams already in the SEC footprint. This is why I figure the decision on who gets an invite would be a financial one and not one based on rivalry and the tradition of the league. I'd hope someone involved in this decision would bring that up at some point, but it seems less and less likely to happen.

Texas A&M To The SEC?!?

2011-08-13T22:36:00.002-05:00

The buzz that Texas A&M is bolting the Big 12 for the best college football conference in the country has reached a zenith tonight with ESPN confirming it will happen and we'll hear the details Monday.

Needless to say, it's a story I'm keeping my eye on for a couple of reasons.

The first is it's an SEC expansion and if it happens I could see the SEC going super conference and, once again, leading the way for college athletics, especially college football. We started the the conference title game and all others followed. Now it looks like we could start the super conference movement and all others will follow.

Of course, my first big question is if we expand, who are the other teams coming in? And what would this mean for realignment? And how would that impact the rivalries that have built up over the years and that are traditionally played each fall. I can't imagine an SEC football season without Tennessee vs Alabama, but I have a strange feeling this could be a casualty of realignment.

Finally, I have to think that Texas A&M's desire to leave shows the failure of the Big 12 as a conference. This is twice in the past year or so we've heard of them making a move to leave...and the blame falls squarely at the feet of Texas. They're the bully on the block, bending the will of the Big 12 to their whims and pleasures. They want to be in a conference and independent...to have the best of both worlds and they don't care who or what they step on or over to do it. And the fact that the Big 12 is allowing them to bully it and the other teams in that conference just shows what happens when you don't have solid leadership like you do in the SEC.

This could be an interesting week....and we don't even kick-off the games for three more weeks. Bring on the circus!

TV Round-Up: Breaking Bad

2011-08-09T11:33:00.000-05:00

Bullet Points

This week, we once again see how differently Walter and Skylar are approaching their life of crime together. Skylar is all about planning things out, making sure no i is undotted and no t is uncrossed. Walt is much more reactionary, scheming on the fly and generally not looking at the bigger picture until he's forced to do so because of a fear for his safety or long term future.

The visit to Hank and Marie's to come clean about how Walt earned all the money they have coming in highlights this. Skylar is all about having an exact script of how things will go and then following it to the letter. She's even written out how the conversation and confession will go and what she and Walt will say at each point along the way. Her plan even goes as far as having Walt try to play a hand or two of blackjack to see if he can really count cards and has a method to winning back as he says he does. The result is that Walt isn't really any good at counting cards and he probably thinks its as easy as the movie 21 made it look like it could be.

On the other hand, you've got Walt who is adept at thinking on his feet and being reactionary. The last couple of episodes have shown that isn't always a good idea, as we see when he tries to recruit Mike to his side against Gus. But here, we see Walt thinking on his feet and trying to figure out just what Hank knows and suspects about the super lab. We even get to see Walt crafting a lie to cover up that Gale dedicated his notebook to Walt and that Hank wonders who W.W. could be. Walt's quick cover up that it was Walt Whitman, a poet referenced in the pages and not Walter White was fascinating--and it seems like one of those details that could come back to haunt Walt.

Again, the show makes a huge point about how blind some of these characters are to what's really going on. Hank can't seem to fathom that Walt could be Heisenberg. Skylar can't fathom how her affair with her boss could possibly play into her version of the drama that unfolds at dinner. And Walt can't see how there will be a positive end game in all of this for him and his family. At some point, Walt or Skylar will have to realize that their survival will depend on selling out the other person. Which one realizes this first could be interesting....

I did love the scene with Saul where Saul points out that no where in Walt's grand scheming of how to end the game and come out ahead is Saul even considered.

I also think we're slowly watching Walt fade away and Heisenberg emerge to take over. It may be a necessity to ensure Walt survives what's to come. It does feel like Walt isn't reacting well being chipped away at piece by piece this year--from Gus, from Mike and from Skylar. At some point, Heisenberg will reach a breaking point and begin to push back.

Meanwhile, Jessie is spiraling more and more out of control and becoming a greater liability. Jessie's lack of caring about whether he left clues at Gale's murder scene that could link back to him or that his money was stolen are telling. Jessie seems to have given up on everything and is just going through the motions. At some point, Jessie could become such a weak link that he either turns in everyone or has to be taken out. Mike meets with Gus about this and then takes Jessie with him out into the desert. The interesting question lingering is was this Mike's idea to try and reach Jessie to save him or was it directed by Gus? And no matter whose idea it was, what is the final end game for Jessie? Is it a wake-up call to scare him back into the fold or is it to be the end of Jessie?

At this point, I wouldn't put it past Vince Gilligan and company to bump off Jessie.

Retro TV Round-Up: Star Trek

2011-08-04T13:28:00.000-05:00

The Naked Time
Produced seventh but shown fourth in the original run, "The Naked Time" is an episode that works better if you have some understanding of who the characters are. It's also the clearest indication that classic Trek is really finding its storytelling footing and that most of the elements are coming together.

Written by John D.F. Black, who also served as an early script editor for the show, "Time" finds the Enterprise crew dropping by Psi 2000 to pick up the research team stationed there and observe the collapse of the planetary system's star. Spock and Lt. Tormolen beam over and find the crew all dead, frozen in various position including one showering while fully clothed. The episode features one of two time we'll see environmental suits in the original run of Trek and I've got to admit they're a lot less cool that what we see in "The Tholian Web." Suffice it to say, Tormolen doesn't follow regulations and takes off a glove at one point, allowing himself to become infected by something.

Beaming back to the ship, he and Spock check out OK but that's only because the scanners look for what's known. Tormolen starts showing signs of deep depression over what happened on the station and is full of self doubt. It all culminates in the rec room where Tormolen becomes suicidal and tries to kill himself with a butter knife. Sulu and Lt. Kevin Riley stop him, but in doing so they contract the disease.

As the episode progresses, the infection spreads among the crew. It slowly lowers inhibitions and allows things hidden under the surface to come to the top. Sulu imagines himself a swashbuckler and spends some of the episode running about the ship, brandishing a foil. Riley takes over engineering and turns off the engines just as the ship is spiraling down toward Psi 2000. Chapel is infected and professes her deep feelings for Spock. Spock is infected and his emotions rise to the surface and Kirk is forced to face the loneliness of command. For the most part, all of the scenes with characters losing control work extremely well. In fact, they work better if you're familiar with the characters and you watch this one seventh instead of fourth in the rotation.

The episode was one of the first of many battles Leonard Nimoy would wage over the character of Spock. As originally written, Spock was supposed to become emotional over a prank pulled by an unnamed infected crewmember. Nimoy argued (and rightly so) that even losing control of himself as Spock was, he'd still find a way to get out of the public eye before his breakdown. Spock's breakdown is one of the more compelling early moments for the character and the confrontation between Kirk and Spock in the briefing room is one of the best scenes in the original run of 79 episodes. I know I end up sound like a William Shatner apologist a lot here (and just wait until we get to the next episode...) but watching him chew scenery here shows you exactly why he was cast as the lead role in the series. Despite his penchant to go hammy, there are times when the guy is really effective and this is one of them. (I recall that when SciFi ran the Trek special editions back in the day, Shatner ruined this by hamming it up when he thanked everyone for the kudos about this particular scene).

Produced as one of the first dozen or so episodes, "The Naked Time" still finds Trek trying to decide what to do about Janice Rand. It's clear that the show wanted them to have a lot of unresolved sexual tension along the lines of what we'd get with Riker and Troi in TNG and Kirk spends a bit of his losing control moments lamenting that he's not allowed to notice Rand and that he has "no beach to walk on." While Rand has potential as a character, it's probably for the best that NBC asked Gene Roddenberry to write her out of the show.

And while I said earlier that it's better to see this one seventh in the run, watching this one followed by the next aired episode "The Enemy Within" will reveal a bit about Kirk's character and have some things actually make a bit more sense.

Of course, it wouldn't be an everyone goes crazy episode without the ship in peril. And it is between a decaying orbits, a star going nova and the engines being turned off. Each of the classic Trek characters is given a bit of a moment to shine--none more than Scotty who gets to lament that you can't change the laws of physics for the first time in this episode. Of course, after the commercial break, he manages to find a way to bend them a great deal...but that's not the point here.

Interestingly, Next Generation would pretty much remake this episode for their second episode. If you watch both in close succession, it's easy to see how this episode was re-written and tweaked a bit for the Next Gen crew. I'll admit that it was that episode and its preview that had me worried about Next Generation early on its run. I wondered just how many rehashes of familiar stories were on the horizon.

TV Round-Up: Breaking Bad

2011-08-02T03:24:00.000-05:00

Open House
Earlier this summer, TV critics Alan Sepinwall and Dan Feinberg discussed the preview segments they'd seen of Breaking Bad, noting how in many ways Walter White didn't get as much screen time as some of the supporting characters in the first three installments of season four. And that's OK because at this point, the series is more than just about Walt and his journey to become Scarface (though that is important, mind you). It's also about how Walt is corrupting everyone who comes into his orbit. (Thankfully, this is handled a lot better than it is on Rescue Me where everyone comes into orbit of Planet Tommy whether it seems feasible or not).

It could be that Vince Gilligan and his writers are sewing seeds of a Walter White slow burn that will ignite at some point this season--probably with very, very bad consequences for all involved. While Walter has been the catalyst for all that's happened this season and since season one, we can slowly see Walt being diminished again, much as he was last year. And it's only a matter of time before Heisenberg rears his ugly head. At some point, I expect the show will allow Heisenberg to stay more on the surface and we could eventually see the Walt we knew at the show's beginning vanish completely.

It may be necessary since Walt isn't exactly the criminal mastermind he thinks he is. Walt's ability to delude himself about what's really going on is shown in detail here when he describes the conflict with Mike last week to Skylar. Walt believes it was just two colleagues having a disagreement and that it's all worked out now. Apparently not so much, since the camera surfacing in the lab could mean that Mike has spilled the beans to Gus. How much longer Walt remains useful enough to Gus to keep him alive remains to be seen. (It is interesting that despite not seeing Gus on screen again this week, his presence looms large over everything that's unfolding here. I have to wonder if he'll be as pleased with Walt's purchase of the car wash and the trail that could create back to him.)

In some ways, Skyler is better at the criminal game than Walt. Or maybe she's still so new to it that the creative juices are still flowing and it's not just part of the daily routine as it is for Walt. Her scheme to get the car wash sold is a nice touch as is her constant pressure on Walt to think through how he spends the money. Watching the scene where she calls Walt out for buying the expensive bottle of champagne (even though he used cash) and leaving a trail was nicely done. It makes me wonder if Gilligan is setting the table for how Walt will eventually fall--not due to his meth making operation but because of a careless mistake and possibly going to jail for tax evasion.

Meanwhile, Marie is back to her old habits. With Hank being emotionally abusive, Marie returns to her life of kleptomania crime, visiting open houses and taking on a different identity each time. She also takes something from each house and ends up getting caught when a realtor she duped at one open house is at another. Marie's breaking down at the thought of going home and back to Hank is telling as is his growing abuse of her. The argument over whether he asked her to get Fritos or Cheatos seems like it could be a case of Hank just trying to pull her strings so he can be alone again. Or to wallow in the self pity of no longer feeling useful. By episode's end, we see Hank become frustrated by watching city council meetings on cable and instead consider the notebook taken from Gale's apartment as evidence. It's probably only a matter of time before Hank puts two and two together and figures that Heisenberg is behind this.

On a random thought, I wonder if Gus is setting up Walt as a fall guy should the super lab ever come to light. Given how thorough Gus is, that could be the case.

Meanwhile, Jesse continues to fall apart, even reaching out to Walt to go hang out. Given how up and down their partnership has been, this is extremely telling. I have a feeling Jesse hasn't even bottomed out yet. It's interesting to see Walt try to briefly reach out to Jesse after realizing that maybe Jesse is struggling after killing Gale. Again, it's someone coming into Walt's orbit and being corrupted by his descent into criminal mastermind.

The season is heating up and getting more and more interesting with each passing week.

Retro TV Round-Up: Doctor Who

2011-08-01T12:29:00.000-05:00

Doctor Who and the Silurians

When writer Malcolm Hulke first heard that the Doctor had been exiled to Earth for the early part of the Jon Pertwee era, script editor Terrance Dicks says he thought for a moment and then replied the new series format gave the show two possible stories--mad scientists or alien invaders. And as Dicks is fond of pointing out in many of the Pertwee era extras, it didn't take long for Dicks to realize that Hulke was right.

So, it's interesting that for his first contribution to the Pertwee years, Hulke would deliver a story that featured both mad scientist and alien invaders. But instead of the aliens coming from outer space, Hulke would subvert the format by casting humanity itself as the alien invaders--at least if you consider the story from the point of the view of the guys in the rubber suits.

The first season featuring Jon Pertwee is arguably one of the top five seasons in the close to 50 year run of the series, featuring stories that could be labeled as more "adult" than much of what we saw before or after. And it's not "adult" in the same way that Torchwood sees adult, but adult in the themes and ideas laid out in the stories. Another term used to describe season seven is "gritty" and that view if on full diplay in "Doctor Who and the Silurians."

When UNIT is called in to investigate power losses at a nuclear power station built inside a series of caves on Wenley Moore, the Brigadier calls on the services of the Doctor and Liz Shaw to assist the investigation. The Doctor quickly uncovers a conspiracy that seems to center on the caves in which the station was built. Exploring the caves, the Doctor discovers a race of reptile creatures who were once the dominant life form of planet Earth. Fearing a small planet would destroy their ability to survive on the surface, they went into suspended animation in the caves only to see the alarm clock fail and not revive them on schedule. In that time, humanity evolved and took over. Now using power from the generator and by making promises to several scientists, the Silurians (as they've called in the story) are beginning to revive. Several of them have designs on re-establishing themselves as the highest form of life on planet Earth and are pretty upset that the ape descendants are running the show now. One thinks a peace treaty can be brokered to allow both races to co-exist on the planet. The Doctor is firmly caught in the middle, trying to broker a peace and keep both sides from destroying each other due to mistrust and fear.

Eventually, a younger faction of Silurians eliminate the Old Silurian who along with the Doctor is committed to peaceful co-existence. They release a deadly virus to wipe out humanity. The Doctor finds a cure and then sets the reactor into meltdown mode to trick the Silurians back into hibernation. His hope is to revive them one at a time and convince them and humanity that we can all live on the planet together. The Brigadier has other ideas, blowing up the base and sealing the Silurians in the caves forever.

At seven episodes in length, it'd be easy for "Doctor Who and the Silurians" to drag or have the typical six-part treading water moments where little if anything is done to advance the plot. And while episode six suffers from a bit of water treading (we spend a long time watching the Doctor try to find a cure), it's not so much water treading as it is allowing the story time to breath and to let the implications of what is going on fully sink in. Yes, we see what seem like multiple permutations of the Doctor failing to find the cure just yet, but it's interspersed with scenes of the impact the plague is having and reinforcing why the Doctor needs to find a cure and find it soon.

It's not just in that area that the story builds its tension. The story wisely keeps our view of the Silurians themselves limited for the first three episodes. We see the creatures in shadows and see things like an arm or a leg, but we don't see the full on creature until the cliffhanger for episode three. And while visually these are little more than guys in rubber suit monsters, Hulke makes them a bit more than your standard monster hell-bent on conquering the Earth. It's an interesting contrast to the previous story where the Autons were simply invading the Earth. In the case of the Silurians, the shoe's on the other foot since technically we're the invaders and they're just trying to take back what was theirs.

It's interesting to see how the Silurians are willing and able to manipulate certain members of humanity to fulfill their needs. When the story begins, one of the scientists, Dr. Quinn, has been promised vast scientific secrets if he'll help them revive their race. Of course, Quinn is eventually killed for his troubles, but that's only after he ceases to be of use to the Silurians. Also of interest is the reaction of several minor characters who see the Silurians early in the story (before the big reveal). One scientist in particular who is found wandering the caves after his fellow caver is killed by the Silurians watchdog dinosaur (and yes, it's every bit as ineffective as you might think visually) triggers some kind of racial fear of the Silurians, possibly left over from the time before the reptilian creatures went underground. There's a sense early on and throughout some of the later episodes at some kind of primal fear of the Silurians on the part of humanity.

But for all its strengths, there are still some weak points to the story. As has been pointed out time and again, Malcolm Hulke is a good writer but at times his cliffhangers are forced into the story. It's not quite as bad here as it is in "Frontier in Space" but there are still a few that feel forced. For example, in episode one the Doctor suddenly feels a great urge to run down into the caves, setting up his own meeting with the watchdog dinosaur. Then in episode six, the Silurians spend a long time tunneling up to come kidnap the Doctor...or at least it seems that way based on how thing are unfolding on screen.

In the long run, those are minor quibbles really in what is, quite frankly, one of the better Pertwee era stories and a good example of how Doctor Who can be adult in terms of themes examined, character development and creating conflict by having both sides of the argument have some legitimate points. It's leaps and bounds better than what Russell T. Davies considers as adult in the first two seasons of Torchwood and it shows the Who universe is one that can both entertain and make you think without missing a beat.

TV Round-Up: Breaking Bad

2011-07-26T03:11:00.000-05:00

Thirty-Eight Snub
One of the things I've heard producer and series creator Vince Gilligan say time and time again about Breaking Bad is that it's not just the story about how a guy goes from Mr. Chips to Scarface, but also about the times in between those actions and the ramifications on the characters. No where is that more evident than in this week's episode as we see the continued fall-out from not only what happened last week, but from everything that's happened up until now.

The episode starts out with Walt deciding he has to take matters into his own hands and eliminate the threat of Gus. He buys a black market gun and then practices drawing it, hoping to get into a room with Gus and eliminate Gus. But Walt's plan begins to derail when it appears that Gus has finally clued in that being around Walt isn't a good idea and he'll send his messages now through other sources. He's also less trusting of Walt and Jesse, making the two re-weight their final payload after cooking. Walt goes to Gus's home to try and kill him but is warned off by Mike. Then later Gus tries to convince Mike to get him in a room with Gus and Mike summarily belts him one and delivers a few quick kicks to the ribs to make his point.

Watching Walt's attempt to resurrect and channel the Heisenberg persona is fascinating. In the past, Walt has used the persona has used the persona in short bursts and while we've seen that he really, really likes it, he's never embraced it for long. One big thing in those cases in the past is the other parties involved near saw Heisenberg coming. Gus is aware of Heisenberg and is probably aware that this side of Walt could be coming for him. If he's not, at least Mike is and Mike is ready to send back his own message--as bad as you think you are, you aren't bad enough to take me on...at least not yet. Gilligan has stated several times that this season will be a chess match between Gus and Walt, with Walt having to embrace the bad-ass side of himself. So far, the opening moves of the chess game seem to all be going to Gus. Walt pulled a surprise move in eliminating Gale, but since then he's been on the defensive, reacting to Gus's moves.

The question is--will Walt ever get to where he's two steps ahead of Gus again? Will Gus allow it? Walt is incredibly reactionary to danger and threats at times. He and Jesse tend to get into the most trouble when something goes awry that Walt didn't anticipate. I have to wonder if this season we'll see Walt stumble into a victory over Gus not because of being meticulous but because the lack of foresight in some areas makes Walt too unpredictable.

Meanwhile, on the Jesse front, his downward spiral continues. Last year, he said he came to the realization in therapy that he's the bad guy. And while we saw him embrace it last year, this time he's crossed a huge line and is having a hard time dealing with the consequences. He's haunted by the fact that he killed Gale and possibly by all the baggage he's accumulated in the time he's been associated with Walt. He's made some moves to try and get some of the pieces back into his life, but each one falls short. He bought his aunt's house from his parents but it's not quite filing the void. He's trying to reach out to his old drug running buddies and throw a wild party, but it's not quite filling the void. Even his relationship with Andrea is meant to be an attempt to rekindle some kind of feeling of normalcy with someone, but it doesn't work. While Andrea shares some characteristics with Jane, she can't quite fill the void left by Jane's death. It's interesting to see that Jesse tries to give some of the money he's made to Andrea so she and her son can escape their situation...but that he's just as ready to believe she could easily spend it all on drugs as the escape. Basically, she'd put herself on the same spiral that he's on--once on the wagon, but now completely fallen off and picking up speed as he plummets downhill.

Meanwhile, Hank continues to rehab, being wonderful to his physical therapist but putting Marie through the ringer. His obsession with minerals has to be leading somewhere but right now I can't quite see where it might all go. I have a feeling should Hank ever get back on the Heinsenberg case, Walt is in a lot of trouble because he'll be even more relentless than before.

TV Round-Up: Breaking Bad, "Box Cutter"

2011-07-18T19:22:00.002-05:00

I've spent the last couple of weeks catching up on AMC's award-winning series Breaking Bad. I'd watched the first couple of episodes, drawn in by the pedigree of Vince Gilligan from his work on The X-Files. But somehow I got behind and while many others appreciated the genius of the show, I was far behind and never could quite catch up.

Thankfully, the show is on cable so seasons are only 13 episodes long...not too bad a catch-up if you really want to do it. And watching Breaking Bad, catching up is exactly what you want to do.

So much so that I've caught up now, watched the opening episode of season four and find myself feeling a bit of a void as I have to wait six more days to find out what happens next....

This show is that good. But it's probably not for everyone. It's dark, it's brutal and it's unflinching. It started out as a dark comedy about an ordinary chemistry teacher who when he finds out he has lung cancer decides to cook meth to help leave something behind for his family. He finds an old student whose a low level drug maker and dealer and uses his knowledge of the drug trade to begin making money. Since that time, the show has evolved into something more, showing the slow destruction of Walter White and how he poisons all those who come into contact with him. We've seen Walt realize he's only feeling fulfilled when he takes on his drug kingpin persona of Heisenberg and that he's incredible vain and short sighted at times. His weakness his ego and a need for gratification. He also has an amazing sense of self-deception as he can do terrible things and somehow justify them to himself. One stand out scene in season two sees Walt allowing his partner's girlfriend to choke on her own vomit and die simply because she's an obstacle to his overall safety and business.

All of which brings up to season four. One good thing about burning through the final couple of season three episodes on a lazy Sunday afternoon is that I only had to wait a few hours to see how it all picked up. Because man, season three ended on one hell of a cliffhanger.

Since it started, Breaking Bad has not only been about the slow destruction of Walter White, but also about the smaller moments that take place between the crimes being committed on screen. And it's in those episodes the show works brilliantly well. As amazingly on the edge of my seat as I was in last year's episode that Walt and Jessie trapped in the incriminating RV as his brother in law and DEA agent, Hank showed up outside because he was following Jessie, the episodes that examine the consequences of actions are just as good. If you're looking at season three, I point you to the fly in the lab episode and the one following Hank's attack by the Cousins.

"Box Cutter" is also about examining the consequences of actions. As last season wound down, Walt realized that his new boss, Gus, was preparing to eliminate Walt and allow lab assistant Gale to take over the cooking. Walt quickly decided that to save he and Jessie, Gale had to go. Meanwhile, Jessie was having issues with some of Gus' distributors, leading to Walt killing two of them and sending Jessie on the run. It all came to a head when Gus brings Walt in, supposedly to kill him. Walt appears to betray Jessie, instead using the phone call to let Jessie know where Gale is and giving the order to kill him. The season ended with Jessie at Gale's door, crying and forced to carry out Walt's orders to save them both.

And then, season four starts. Walt believes he's got the upper hand on Gus, for now since no one else can cook like he can. It's his formula and only he and Jessie can make it. What Walt doesn't count on is that one of Gus' men who has been guarding them in the lab might just be able to do it. The tension mounts as Walt and Jessie sit the lab, waiting for Gus to arrive. The guard shows them he knows enough to "follow the recipe" and starts making a batch of the signature blue meth.

Gus shows up and in a sequence that is both riveting and horrifying, shows Walt just how serious he is. It involves the box-cutter of the title and it's mean to send a message to Walt that everyone is expendable. It also shows just how much or little value Gus places on anyone or anything that gets in the way of his business. It's as dark and violent as the show has ever been--and yet it's a quiet moment. While Walt is justifying his decision, the sounds of Gus walking into the lab, changing into a protective pair of coveralls and then killing the man who made the mistake of being seen at Gale's after Jessie pulled the trigger and could link him back to Gus is one of the most compelling, dark and utterly horrifying moments we've had in this series..and that's saying a lot because this series is full of them.

Interestingly, Gilligan has stated on numerous occasions that he wants to end the series with the audience hating Walt. It's not hard too do. This isn't one of those cases of rooting for the bad guy or an anti-hero. At this point, there is little left to redeem Walt or make him likeable. But it's a credit to Gilligan's writing team and to actor Bryan Cranston that Walt is still compelling and utterly watchable. I can see how some could compare Walt to Tony Soprano or Vic Mackey, but in the case of those shows we met both characters after they'd chosen the life of crime. Breaking Bad takes the interesting route of showing us an ordinary guy who is likeable at first and shows us how he slowly becomes an evil, evil man. Watching the show, it's easy to see why Cranston has won three straight Emmys...and will probably pick up another one for season four based on what we've seen here.

If you haven't watched this one yet, get the DVDs and catch up. It's worth every last second.

I can't wait for next week....

Retro TV Round-Up: Star Trek

2011-07-18T11:55:00.001-05:00

"Where No Man Has Gone Before"

While I've long since become a bigger fan of Star Trek, my initial interest in Trek came through my childhood fandom of Star Wars. Growing up at a time when Star Wars was huge, I was eager to consume anything that looked even remotely similar, leading me to beg my mother to take me to see Star Trek: The Motion Picture when it finally came to the base movie theater. Proving just how much my mother loves me and just how little she and my dad underestimated that exposing me to Star Trek and later Doctor Who would lead to life-long fandoms of both franchises, she took me.

The only thing I can really recall about seeing The Motion Picture at the base theater was thinking that it was nothing like Star Wars or the movie version of Buck Rogers we'd seen there. I also recall wondering how it could look so awesome on the back cover of some many comic books and yet be so....well, dull. (I've later come to appreciate The Motion Picture, but at the time it was a huge letdown).

Thankfully, there was tie-in merchandise (in this case, Power records stories) and the Saturday morning cartoon. Both helped me to figure out there was more to Trek than TMP. And while I'd not seen a full episode yet, I was still intrigued enough to want to find out more about the Star Trek universe.

Then, along came Wrath of Khan. Now, I'd seen a random episode of Trek or two leading up to Wrath of Khan, but it was with Khan that my fandom began to blossom into what it is today. Part of it was that a local station where we were living at the time decided to show two nights of Star Trek repeats in primetime to help fans get ready to see the movie. It was the summer time and my parents agreed that I could stay up later than usual and watch both episodes on both nights. Of the four, the only one that I remember specifically being shown was this one, the second pilot for Trek, "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

As many of you know, NBC dismissed the original pilot for Trek, "The Cage," as being "too cerebral." But they liked it enough to give Gene Roddenberry a second chance, but only if he bumped up the action a bit more. Roddenberry went back and commissioned or worked on three scripts for the new pilot, eventually deciding to go with "Where No Man Has Gone Before" as the second pilot. (The others would eventually see the light of day, one in season one and the other in season two).

In syndication, this one always airs first in the running order. In the original NBC air order, it runs third. Which I have to imagine was a bit disconcerting to fans watching them on the original run. The look and feel of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is so different from the two episodes that aired before it that it's not hard to figure that a lot of head scratching went on. That said, it's the best of the first three aired episodes.

Watching the episode again, the thing that strikes me most is how many of the pieces of classic Trek are all there, but they're still a bit unpolished. The most striking thing thing time around was how the remastering work revealed how green Spock's original make-up was. (I'm going to have to pop in the Blu-Ray with "The Cage" to see if this is true there also). It's fairly striking and it, along with the pointed ears, seems to scream "Hey, this guy is an alien."

Of course, the script works to make sure we know this with lots of line about Spock's different heritage and how he's half-human. It's a lot of exposition and set-up and while it's heavy-handed at times, it quickly and neatly establishes things.

The action quotient of this one is also revved up as well. The Enterprise is probing out of the galaxy, following same route as an earlier ship the Valiant. While trying to probe out through the galactic barrier, the ship is pummeled by energy, leaving it crippled. There's also the small matter of two crew members getting a strange glow around them during the devastation--the new ship's psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Dehner and the navigator and Kirk's old friend, Gary Mitchell. Mitchell starts showing outward signs of a change first as his eyes being to glow a silver color and he begins to develop god-like powers.

Before long, Mitchell has consumed the entire ship's library and is setting his mind to bigger things--such as taking over the ship and possibly more. On the surface, Mitchell's transformation from Kirk's close friend to mortal enemy may seem a bit rapid, but the script wisely throws in a line about how Mitchell manipulated Kirk in the early days of the friendship. It sets up that Mitchell will see the ends justifying the means, so long as he benefits from it. It also shows he's got an ambitious streak and is willing to take short cuts to get what he wants. So his embracing his god-like powers and his rising arrogance aren't as out of left field as they could seem.

The ship is forced to head to Delta Vega, a mining colony that may have the equipment to repair the ship and may be a place to maroon Mitchell. (If you pay close attention to the dialogue of 2009's Star Trek, you may note that this is same location that Spock chooses to maroon Kirk when he puts Kirk off the Enterprise. ) The ship is repaired but not before Mitchell has escaped and Dehner started to show signs of developing abilities of her own. Thankfully, her eyes glow silver as well so we are aware of this.

Kirk follows them out to a rocky area, pits them against each other and uses the chaos to fight and kill Mitchell. Or at least we're left to assume Mitchell is dead....I've always thought a great tie-in novel would see Mitchell somehow alive and coming back to menace either Kirk and company again or the TNG crew. OK, maybe that's a bit too much like Wrath of Khan now that I really think about it...

Looking at this second pilot, you can see why the show was picked up. It had all the action NBC wanted, but yet Roddenberry was able to slip in a few philosophical points between the bridge exploding and Kirk and Mitchell beating the stuffing out of each other. The show does contain one of the more blatant on-screen continuity errors and it certainly feels a bit different from what's to come. But the pieces are all there and the episode is one that regularly makes it onto top ten lists for the original series.

Part of that is the sense of how alone the Enterprise is and the danger in exploring space. A log entry after the encounter with the galactic barrier points this out, saying how star bases that were once days or weeks away are now years in the distance. It's this sense of how scary and dangerous space can really be and how alone Kirk and company truly are that drives a lot of the episode. Enterprise tried to recapture this a bit in its early seasons, but even it moved away from this after a while. I like it and it's something we'll see a couple of more times during classic Trek.

Another thing that always hits me watching these early episodes is to hear how the incidental music is used in the episode it was written for. Trek recycled a lot of incidental music, so the cues will sound familiar. But the first four or five episodes all showcase the music for the first time and I always find it fascinating to see how the music is meant to enhance the story the first times it's used.

Wish I'd Thought of It First

2011-07-14T10:42:00.003-05:00

Best laugh I've had in a while....

Retro TV Round-Up: Star Trek

2011-07-11T11:08:00.000-05:00

"Charlie X"

With classic Trek making its long-awaited debut on Netflix streaming last week, I quickly realized that I'd let my plan to watch and review the first season of one of my favorite series fall by the wayside since I did a retro review of "The Man Trap" several months ago. So it was that Friday evening I got out the Blu-Rays of classic Star Trek and fired them up to watch the second aired episode (but actually the sixth produced), "Charlie X."

I realize that "Charlie X" probably isn't an episode that many fans are going to put on their top ten list of great Trek installments, but I will admit I have a certain fondness for it. Part of it was that in high school, I used it as part of a segment for a youth group retreat on acceptance. The story was a great illustration of the desire many have to be accepted and the lengths they'll go to in order to achieve that. It went over fairly well--either that or my friends on the retreat were too polite to tell me I was crazy....it's one of the two.

If you think that teen angst was something brought into Trek by Wesley Crusher, you'd be wrong. It shows up in full force here, though some might argue that Charlie is a more intriguing character than Wesley was in the first season or so of TNG.

The Enterprise rendezvouses with the cargo ship the Antares to bring aboard Charlie Evans, the only survivor of a ship crash on the planet Thasis. Charlie was a baby when the ship crashed and has lived on the planet alone for seventeen years, learning to talk from the ship's computer banks and somehow finding enough food to eat on the planet. This shouldn't be the case since Spock later points out that Thasis doesn't exactly have the plant life necessary for a human being to survive, much less grow up to the age of seventeen as Charlie has done.

Because of this, Charlie is a bit on the socially awkward side. He interrupts Kirk often during a conversation with the captain of the Antares and his awe struck when he sees his first girl. Charlie is a character who doesn't have a great filter and has very few unexpressed thoughts, including the amusing end to the teaser like of "Is that a girl? when he first meets Janice Rand.

We get an idea early on that something may not be right with Charlie since the Antares crew is eager to dump the kid on Kirk and head for the proverbial hills. They do eventually try to contact the Enterprise via subspace, but the ship is destroyed before they can warn Kirk about what's really going here.

Charlie tries to fit into the society on board the Enterprise, but finds himself frustrated at every turn. He tries to win Janice's affection by providing her favorite perfume and impressing her with magic tricks. He tries to learn how to play chess with Spock, only to be angered when Spock easily beats him. Charlie responds to all of this by doing what most teenagers do--rolling his eyes. Except unlike most teens, Charlie can roll his eyes and make bad things happen. He can make you disappear or turn into a lizard or melt the chess pieces. Charlie starts off trying to use his power to make people like him--he manipulates the cards in the card tricks and turns meatloaf into turkeys for the crew's Thanksgiving dinner--but as the episode goes along Charlie quickly starts using them to enforce his will on others in a desperate attempt to get people to like him.

Charlie latches onto Kirk as father-figure and the two engage in a battle of wills as Charlie slowly takes over the ship. The Enterprise is headed to a colony to drop Charlie off and he's not going to let anything stand in his way. I guess he figures that since he's burned all his bridges of friendship on the Enterprise that a fresh start on the colony will be exactly what he needs. Kirk notices that since the Enterprise is bigger than the Antares and has a larger crew, Charlie has stretched himself to the limit of his power. Kirk pushes him beyond it and regains control of the ship, just in time to get a message from a ship following the Enterprise. It's a Thasian ship that has come to take Charlie back to Thasis. Seems he slipped off when they weren't looking and for his own good and the sake of the rest of the universe, Charlie has to go back.

Charlie is not keen on this idea, begging to stay. But he's sent back and the damage he did is undone by the Thasian.

The story of "Charlie X" is a tragedy and one of the more heavy-handed ones in all of Trek. The Thasians are pretty rigid in their assertion that Charlie can't be taught to control his power and will pretty much run amok wherever he goes. (Interestingly, this theme will come back in TNG when Riker is offered the power of the Q in the first sesaon). Kirk argues it could work, but sits by as Charlie returns to the Thasian ship at episode's end.

The battle of wills between Kirk and Charlie is interesting. Early on, Charlie latches onto Kirk as a father-figure, a role that Kirk is reluctant to accept. In many ways, this is an early showcase for William Shatner as Kirk. Kirk's slow burn as Charlie takes over the ship and crew is matched only by the scene where Kirk is forced to explain to Charlie why it's not appropriate to slap a woman on the behind. (The expression on Kirk's face when Charlie tells him that Rand said he'd explain it all is priceless). It becomes clear about mid-way through that Charlie will only respect Kirk and that he is desperate for the captain's approval. Charlie is visibly upset when when Kirk leaves the chess game and instead of teaching him how to play, leaves Spock to do it.

It's interesting that in the original airing order of the series that we'll get back-to-back episodes of Kirk engaging in a battle of wills with someone who has god-like powers. "Charlie X" may lack the emotional investment that Kirk has with Gary Mitchell, but it's still interesting to see that early on there's really no good way to stop someone with these incredible powers beyond sending them back to the people who gave them the powers or leaving them for dead on a lithium cracking station.

At this point, the series is still finding its voice and footing. Interestingly, the show gives us a lot of scenes of what daily life is like on board the ship. We hear about the Thanksgiving meal, we see the rec lounge for two scenes and we spend some time in the Enterprise gym. As the series finds it footing and voice, these moments are fewer and farther between, but they're a nice little addition to this story.

So, while it's not the greatest episode of classic Trek ever produced, I still think "Charlie X" is a good one. It's a couple of steps in the right direction for the series and it's a showcase for Kirk. You could do a lot worse. I'll take this one over "And the Children Shall Lead" any day....

No Excuse for That Behavoir

2011-06-28T11:58:00.000-05:00

Like a lot of sports fan, I followed the story of Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was beaten within an inch of his life after attending a Dodgers vs Giants game earlier this year.

Early on, the story made it seem like all Stow had done wrong was wear a Giants jersey to Dodger stadium. Now, new details are coming out about how Stow acted during the game.

Juan Banda told TMZ Monday that Bryan Stow was inciting Dodgers fans by screaming, "I [sic] rather eat my own feces than eat a Dodger dog."

Banda says he told Stow he was crossing the line with his comments.

"Told him (Stow) it was one thing to root for your team, but you are crossing the line. He didn't say much. Neither him or his buddies who were with him."

Banda told TMZ that Stow "did have a mouth."

"Maybe he said the wrong thing to the wrong guys."

First of all, let me say that it's still a tragedy that this guy was beaten within an inch of his life. I realize that sports fans can be pretty passionate about our teams, but when it crosses the line to where you want to beat up someone this badly for loving an opposing team, it's time to take a step back and reassess some things. I dearly love the Vols and while I can't see why a person would want to be a fan of Alabama or Florida or Georgia or any other SEC team for that matter, it still doesn't make me so mad, upset, or full of rage at those other fans that I want to go and beat them to a pulp....even if their team has just beat mine and I'm feeling pretty down about it.

Second of all, while I understand Stow wasn't exactly being a respectful visitor to Dodger Stadium, it's still no excuse to beat the hell out of him in the parking lot after the game. If that's what happened and there is a connection, that is. Obnoxious fans for the other team are a given and while it rub you the wrong way that they're insulting your team, venue, stadium, tradition, etc. that still doesn't give you the right to go all vigilante on them. Ask the ushers to remove them from the stadium, sure.

You can't help but wonder if there's going to be a shift in the sentiment for Stow from the victim to a guy who brought this on himself. Or that the person or people who beat him within an inch of his life were somehow "justified" in what they did.

The Latest on the Big Orange

2011-06-20T11:02:00.003-05:00

Retro Movie Round-Up: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

2011-06-20T01:15:00.000-05:00

I can still recall how excited I was to see Star Trek V: The Final Frontier when it opened in theaters 22 years ago. I'd been to a couple of local Star Trek conventions where the film was hyped up in every possible detail. I'd read the tie-in novelization for the film.

So it was that I eagerly lined up on opening day to see the film at a super-saver matinee price with a group of fellow Star Trek fans.

And ended up walking out of the theater the only one of us who semi-enjoyed the experience.

The merits of the film soon became something of great debate among us, with one friend using the logic that is the film "won" a Razzie award, it must be pretty terrible. And don't get me wrong here--there are a lot of flaws in Star Trek V. But close to 22 years later, I still don't think it's the worst movie ever made nor is it necessarily the weakest of all the Star Trek movie installments.

So, it was interesting to read recently that best-selling Trek author Keith R.A. DeCandido had taken a few moments to look at and reassess the film, making a couple of interesting points about the film. Chief among them was that the movie really felt like a third-season episode of classic Trek. After spending last summer re-watching season three on DVD, I have to admit I agree. While certain moments of the scenes around the campfire may be wince-inducing, there's still the sense of friendship and camaraderie between Kirk, Spock and McCoy that drove much of the original series. (OK, sure the whole marshmellon thing is absurd, but the novel explained it pretty well. McCoy basically pulled a Wikipedia edit on the Enterprise's computers to get Spock's goat...if they'd put a line of dialogue into the film along those lines it might not have been as terrible).

The film does have some fairly large ideas at its core, even if they're not all that well served (again, just like season three). Ever since The Motion Picture was enough of a hit to earn a second Trek film, Gene Roddenberry had wanted to explore the concept of the Enterprise crew going to find god. (It was either that or going back in time to the JFK assignation). However, other people were brought in and other plotlines pursued. So I can only imagine that when Gene heard that Shatner wanted to finally do his "let's go meet god" concept, he did backflips across the Paramount lot.

Into the search for god, we bring in a tie-in to one of the big three--namely Spock. The introduction of a Vulcan who embraces his emotional side and has the power to help people confront and release their inner pain who happens to be Spock's half brother is intriguing. And had the movie got their first choice of Sean Connery to play the role of Sybok, the film might have been more interesting. It's certainly possible that Connery could have come on board since this was the point of his career that he was accepting just about any role offered to him on the off chance that one out of every four projects might be good. I will say we ended up with Connery in a better role as Indy's dad in The Last Crusade, but I still can't help but wonder how me might have worked here as Sybok.

Instead, we get Laurence Luckinbill, who does a fairly good job with Sybok for most of the film. The story really glosses over exactly how Sybok has the power to connect with his patients and get them to release their pain. But given that Vulcans have semi-telepathic abilities, it's not hard to accept what happens. What is harder to accept is how easily everyone gives themselves over to Sybok and his leadership once said pain is released. Is part of the healing Sybok offers a mental command to follow him blindly and into the breach? Is it intended or it it unintended? And why does it seem to wear off so quickly in the last third of the film? And why are Spock and McCoy able to resist the lure to join the cause when so many of the Enterprise crew are not? (It also brings up the question of just how does Sybok convert the whole crew to his side? Surely there had to be someone besides Scotty who wasn't under his influence).

In many ways, the story is a standard Trek device of some leader comes along and tries to take over the ship coupled with Kirk debunking some myth of a god-like creature ruling over a society absolutely. Again, it fits in well with late second season Trek and all of season three. Kirk's question of "What does god need with a starship" fits in with his views on any number of other god-like creatures, beings or computers run amok that he encountered over the course of the original five year mission.

Of course, as a long time Trek fan I had to wonder if the Great Barrier we see in the film is the same one we saw twice in classic Trek or just something new. Somehow, I think it's more the latter.

Watching the movie again over the weekend, I was struck by how there was a lot of potential for the movie. And how the film falls short in a lot of places. Shatner has made no bones about the fact that Paramount slashed the film's budget and he was forced to heavily alter the final confrontation in Shak-a-ree. But I still don't see how having a half dozen rock monsters will help the final moments of the film, where it becomes little more than a rehash of "The Apple" with Kirk beating a god by using the ship's weapons on it. If this being was powerful enough that whoever imprisoned it there created the Great Barrier around it, surely it would take more than a photon torpedo or two to take it out. If the Enterprise had left the area, that might make more sense.

And then there's the whole Klingon subplot that does nothing to advance anything. It's all set-up to have a Warbird there for the final moments. There's a two-hour chase across space and yet no real battle. Again, if you don't need the Warbird there for the final moments, you could just drop all of this plotline and the movie wouldn't suffer much.

Also, I have to address the effects. ILM didn't do them and it shows. I recall sitting in the theater on opening day and thinking how terrible one particular shot of the Klingon ship at warp looked compared to previous Trek films and what was being down on TV with Next Generation. Blu-Ray and hi-def haven't made these flaws any less obvious.

I was reminded again of how good the Jerry Goldsmith score is, in spots. The music as Kirk climbs El Cap is a real highlight musically as is some of the music as the shuttle heads down to Sha-Ka-Ree. Unfortunately, at other moments it also recycles too much from other scores.

Star Trek V isn't a perfect movie. It's not the best of the Trek films. It wants to be something more than it is and it's a film that had potential. A lot of it goes unrealized and that's probably the most disappointing thing about the movie (well, beyond the special effects).

New vs Old

2011-06-17T19:33:00.002-05:00

When the news hit the Internet that George Lucas was planning to remaster the entire Star Wars saga into 3-D and re-release the films in theaters, some fans (this one included) were a bit concerned. Given the changes done to the original trilogy (esp. A New Hope) for the special editions, many of us wondered what else George might decide to insert into the film, all in the name of upgrading them once again.

Then came the news that instead of going in release order, Lucas would go in chronological order. That means that in order to get to A New Hope, we've got to sit through Jar Jar and the pod-races. A certain segment of the fandom flew into a tizzy over the news and it was only heightened this week when LucasFilm producer Rick McCallum told the LA Times that unless Phantom Menace makes enough money at theaters for its 3-D run, LucasFilm may not bother remastering the other five films into 3D.

For many, the implied message was, "If you want New Hope, you'd better come out and see the new trilogy first."

And, of course, fans got upset.

And while I don't necessarily agree with the release strategy (I think they should do A New Hope first), I do see why McCallum says it. Like it or not, George Lucas and company are in the business of making money and if the films don't make a return on that investment, they'll stop remastering them and releasing them in 3-D. Oh sure, George has more money than Jabba the Hut, but then again he didn't get it by releasing flops at the box-office (Howard the Duck, not withstanding).

It's interesting to watch the debate and to hear the various sides each argue vehemently that their trilogy should be the one that goes first. It's almost a generational thing--there are some of us who grew up knowing Star Wars as episodes IV-VI and those who grew up with Star Wars as episodes I-III. I'm sure there are some younger fans who would call the movies I loved so much, slow, padded and a bit dated special effects wise. To them, I'd say, yes, but we don't have Jar-Jar.....

In many ways, the debate reminds me a bit of how fans are approaching Doctor Who these days. (You knew it was coming around to that eventually, didn't you?) As a longtime fan of Doctor Who, I like the new series but I love the original classic serials. (I believe the number of times I've purchased the serials is a testament to that).

I realize that while I can watch and enjoy the new series, I'm not the target audience any longer. But that still doesn't meant I can't watch and enjoy. It also means I'm allowed to be that grumpy old guy who occasionally gets annoyed cause the new kids are partying on my lawn and playing their music too loud. I can still get irritated at those fans who only want David Tennant as Doctor and cry when we get a gap year with only four new episodes. Wait fourteen years with only one backdoor, 90-minute pilot/TV movie and then tell me about enduring a long wait for new episodes....

In short, I was Doctor Who when Doctor Who wasn't cool.

But, I digress.

My hope is that those fans coming into the fold since 2005 will, at some point, want to wander back and see what all the fuss was about before the series started its successful run again and maybe at least see why some of us loved it so much. And the same thing with Star Wars...while I'm not a huge fan of Phantom Menace, I'd hope that those who came to the fold with it would go back and at least try to understand why the original trilogy was so special to some of us and why many of us have such fond memories associated with it.

Of course, all of this would be a bit easier to take if Lucas would realize that what the fans want most is for remastered versions of the original trilogy to be available on Blu-Ray and DVD. And, no I don't mean the ported over laserdisc release that was slapped on DVD a few years ago. Compare it to the remastered versions for picture and sound and it pales by comparison. To many of us, Han should always shoot first and Luke fall in silent defiance of Vader in the waning moments of Empire.

In this case, this is one area that Doctor Who gets it right. Yes ,we occasionally get upgraded effects or a new edit of a serial on the DVDs. But the BBC understands that fans want the originals as well and will give us both versions in the same release. And in both cases, the picture and sound are remastered for DVD release.

George should think about following the example....

Hamilton Gone

2011-06-07T10:45:00.002-05:00

The Mike Hamilton era at UT is over.

Hamilton resigned as athletic director at my Alma mater this morning, bringing to a close an era that's seen one bad decision after another. For those of you keeping track at home, Hamilton bungled the end of the Philip Fulmer and Bruce Pearl eras, inflicted the Lane Kiffin era on us, fired the baseball coach he hired and rushed to get a new men's basketball coach who may or may not be a good fit for the program. About the only athletic program left unscathed by Hamilton is the Lady Vols and that's probably because he was (rightly) afraid of messing Pat Summit. (I'd be afraid to face down the glare, myself...)

It's news that's been a long time coming. It still puts the athletic department in turmoil and facing an uncertain future thanks to NCAA sanctions that are coming for the Kiffin and Pearl eras. But maybe we can start with a a clean slate as we move out of the cloud that's been over us the past couple of years and return to the winning ways and tradition that make the Big Orange faithful so proud.

I've said it before and I'll say it again--the first call should be to Phil Fulmer. Whether he's a good fit or the right guy for this job, he should be one of the first calls to possibly interview for the job.

TV Round-Up: Doctor Who -- A Good Man Goes To War

2011-06-06T11:34:00.000-05:00

One of the problems with Internet rumors is that they can create false expectations for an episode. For example, last week I heard that as many as two other previous Doctors could turn up for a cameo in this week's mid-season finale. The story was backed up by the IMDB listing and while I didn't necessarily believe that it was the case (it was something too big to keep this far under wraps in the Internet age), I still held out some glimmer of hope the show might go and surprise me with that moment. I was ready for my inner Doctor Who fan boy to weep with delight.

And it never happened.

I've heard it may happen for the series six finale, but I don't think I'm going to buy into the rumor again. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Even not buying into the rumor, there were still a lot of things about the mid-season finale that disappointed me. After last week's installment worked toward redeeming an uneventful and tepid first half of the story, I was hoping the series would get back on track with the type of mid-season cliffhanger and finale that Steven Moffat has been out there talking about since news of the split season was first announced. And that's where I think a lot of the issues with this story arise--it's simply been oversold on the expectation meter since the closing moments of series five. Moffat has told us time and again that we're all going to be picking up our jaws off the floor when the mid-season finale hits and we finally get the revelation of who River Song really is.

The problem is you have to make good on that promise and, at least upon the first two viewings of "A Good Man Goes To War," the episode itself didn't really live up to the hype. Part of it was that I'd guessed River's identity long ago and was secretly hoping they wouldn't go in this direction. The other was that while I like the new series, I'm not a huge fan of episodes that make the Doctor out to be some kind of inter-galactic super hero. One of the hallmarks of the old show was that the Doctor came in, corrected a wrong and then left again in the TARDIS will very little fanfare or accolades. At most, it was a warm handshake and a quick goodbye, except maybe in the case of the Daleks. In that case, I understood why they feared the Doctor since he'd defeated so many of their more audacious schemes in the past and seemed to constantly show up at just the right time to throw a sonic screwdriver into their well-laid plans.

The first fifteen or so minutes of "Good Man" spend a lot of time playing on the Doctor's reputation and showing him calling in favors. And while it's nice to see a bit, it also felt a bit disconnected from a lot of the series as a whole. Oh look, we're bringing in Cybermen, Sontarans and Silurians it seems to say. Look at how clever these callbacks are. Problem is these are callbacks to characters we haven't met before and so they lack the punch they could or should have.

Then the Doctor shows up and easily defeats the forces of evil who had kidnapped Amy and her daughter. But it's too easy and turns out to be a trap for the Doctor. The revelation that Amy and Rory's daughter has become some kind of new breed of Time Lord due to extended exposure to the time and space continuum, I can sort of buy. (I keep reminding myself that a certain segment of fandom hated "The Deadly Assassin" when it first aired because it threw hiccups into the mythology....and I can see where Moffat is trying to do the same thing here).

A lot of the issues I have with this is that it's the first of a two-part story and we're only given so many answers. If we were given everything, there would be little reason to tune back in when the second half of the season kicks off later this year. But I still feel that the episode sold a lot of things really short. Again, a lot of this could be the hype, but I think a lot of it is the essential weakness of making the Doctor into some kind of inter-galactic hero.

That doesn't mean I don't hold out hope. Having River point out how far off course the Doctor has gone certainly feels like the show trying to pull back a bit. If the show is trying to get back to its roots, this is a good step in the right direction in my book.

And I still did like isolated moments in the story. Arthur Darvill is rapidly becoming this season's MVP and his performance here is another solid one. His barely constrained anger and determination to find his wife and child drove the first half of the episode and the reunion of the family on the station was one of the more effective moments in the story. In many ways, Rory has become far more compelling this year than Amy has.

In "A Good Man Goes To War" we have a lot interesting pieces and isolated moments. The problem is that they don't quite all add up in the same way Moffat stories have in the past. I think a lot of this is huge expectations placed on the story by Moffat in both where the storylines came together and in the hype surrounding the show. I'm still intrigued enough to come back in the fall when the show returns (oh, who am I kidding...I'd be back no matter what!), but I have to admit my enthusiasm is a bit tempered.

I'll probably be in the minority on thinking this way, but for now, color my a bit underwhelmed.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Season

2011-05-26T12:51:00.001-05:00

It's interesting that this category would come up this week and in light of this article about the current series of Doctor Who.

It cast my mind back to a point in time in the late 80's. I'd just seen season 25 and felt like it had finally got the show back onto solid footing with two instant classics "Remembrance of the Daleks" and "Greatest Show in the Galaxy." I even liked "The Happiness Patrol" and "Silver Nemesis" on first viewing (both have dropped sharply in my estimation since that time). So, when I heard news that season 26 would feature the writer of "Remembrance" along with a new story by the guy who wrote "Dragonfire" I was pretty stoked for what had to be the greatest season in all of Doctor Who history.

Finally, Maryland Public Television got the rights to air the stories and showed the entire season over two successive Saturday nights. I recorded them, eager for some new favorites and instant classics.

And was left confused, befuddled and feeling a bit disappointed...and that was only halfway into the season debut, "Battlefield." It got worse with "Ghost Light" but finally things got back on track with "The Curse of Fenric.'

However, my initial disappointment soon turned to enjoyment as I went back and revisited the stories and a season as a whole. Since that time, I'd say that season 26 has jumped into my top three or four seasons of the entire series run. It's a short one, but it's got some ambitious stories and some solid work done. It has an arc of sorts and it ties the McCoy years together in an interesting way. It sees the Doctor at his darkest and most manipulative, but it's also balanced by a reunion with the Brigadier.

It may not be the favorite of many fans, but it's my favorite season. And it's a shame the series went on hiatus for fourteen years after this....

When Cicadas Get Sauteed

2011-05-26T11:17:00.000-05:00

In case you've missed it, the cicada are back. It's not even June yet and I'm already tired of the bugs dive-bombing me while jogging and splattering all over my car.

The other night at the library, I noticed a family collecting the little bugs and putting them into plastic bags. I was curious as to why they'd collect them and it appears I may have an answer. Apparently, there are some people who enjoy eating the bugs.

There's a whole article about it in this morning's Tennessean and a Nashville couple has even created a YouTube video in which they detail the capture, cooking and eating of a cicada. The article gives tips on eating them, including when to harvest the creatures and the preparations one should make before you eat one.

All I can say is the YouTube video seems to involve a healthy amount of tequila being consumed before said cicada is sauteed and eaten. I have to admit that'd be the only way I'd probably eat one. I guess I'm not an adventurous enough eater!

I did try frog legs once at my Grandpa's urging, but that is probably about as adventurous as I'm willing to go. Honestly, I can't help but think of the dinner scenes from Temple of Doom when I hear about people eating bugs....

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Titles/Theme

2011-05-25T09:58:00.002-05:00

Over the close to 50 year run of Doctor Who, there have been a lot of variations on the classic theme song.

And while I enjoy all of them, there's still one in my mind that stands out above them all.

It's the opening theme and titles from the Tom Baker era.

Here they are again in case you haven't seen them lately or just want to experience the greatness again...

30 Days of Doctor Who: Missing Episode I Most Want Found

2011-05-24T11:54:00.000-05:00

Today's question is a difficult choice--which missing episode would I most like found.

For years, I probably would have said "Tenth Planet, 4" is only for the historic significance of it in the Doctor Who canon.

Or I could cheat and say "Evil of the Daleks, 1 and 3-7."

Or "Power of the Daleks 1-6."

It's so hard to choose. I keep holding out hope we may see one or all of the lost episodes restored to the BBC archives one day.

I won't get into my conspiracy theory about the lost stories here.....it'd make me look like an obsessed Doctor Who fan.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Underrated Story

2011-05-23T14:40:00.000-05:00

One of the advantages of finding Doctor Who in the pre-Internet age was that I was able to see most of the stories in isolation. I was able to see them and decide whether I liked them without the biases of the other fans on-line or even in my immediate sphere of influence.

And while many of top stories are among those considered to be the "classics" of the show's run, there are still a handful that I think are overlooked or underrated when the lists of good Doctor Who stories are made.

One of those is the six-part Jon Pertwee story, "The Mind of Evil."

It's the second story from season eight and it features just about everything that makes the Pertwee era memorable.

"The Mind of Evil" starts off with three separate story threads and slowly weaves them all together. UNIT is providing security for a world peace conference and escorting a missile full of nerve gas across the English countryside, the Doctor and Jo go to a prison to see the latest development in the rehabilitation of prisoners and the Master is on the loose. If it seems like there's a lot going on, there is, but it quickly becomes apparent that everything is connected. And by connected, I mean that all roads lead to the Master hatching some elaborate plot that involves an alien parasite the feeds on the evil in the minds of people, a prison riot, the peace conference and the missile of nerve gas.

Many people point out "The Daemons" as the definitive example of the Pertwee era. And while I really like that story, I believe "Mind of Evil" has just as many of the elements of the era on display and could be at least considered in the same pantheon as the much-lauded "Daemons."

Of course, it's not helped by the fact that "Mind of Evil" is only available in black and white, except for two short clips. But in this case, I think "Evil" may work better in black and white. Something about it in black and white just works. I know the Restoration Team is working their magic on it to restore the color for the DVD release and if that happens, I'll be the first in line to pick it up. But I still wonder if color may not change how I see the story.

TV Round-Up: Doctor Who -- The Rebel Flesh

2011-05-23T11:31:00.000-05:00

Last year when Steven Moffat took over as producer and show runner for Doctor Who, the buzz was all about seeing what a full season under his guidance might look like. Most fans agree that Moffat delivered solid results in his first season at the helm and that just amped up the curiosity to if and how Moffat might top himself in his second season as showrunner.

Five episodes into the season, we've had one instant classic and a couple of stories that had some potential but maybe came up a bit short.* Of the swings and misses, this week's story was the biggest, if only because it's the first half of a two-part story and it carries a heavy load of exposition and the fact that it felt like a greatest hits compilation of lot of what we saw last year.

*I'm not ready to hit any kind of panic button on the season yet, but I am concerned. It also helps to recall that I liked most of how Russell T. Davies structured his first season as show runner and then how it slowly became a law of diminishing returns during the David Tennant era.

"The Rebel Flesh" has some interesting moments to it, but they're all a bit isolated. The Doctor, Rory and Amy ride a solar wave to a remote island in the near future. The island hosts a team of people who are harvesting and pumping back to the mainland a highly corrosive acid. To minimize the risk to the workers, the team members build copies of themselves, nicknamed Gangers. A second wave of the solar storm hits, knocking out the crew and bringing the Gangers to life and creating a potential conflict between the two sides.

Visually stunning, "Flesh" features some nice location work and some interesting visual moments. It also offers a few hints there's something more going on here, at least where the Doctor is concerned. He tries to get Rory and Amy to not go with him on this adventure and he clams up when directly asked about his real reason for being on the island during this crisis. There are also some hints about the overall arc of the season, though they feel frustratingly shoe-horned into the story rather than how the hints and clues were distributed last year.**

**At this point, if I see one more shot of that woman watching Amy and see the Doctor looking worriedly at the read-out screen saying she may or may not be pregnant, I may scream. It's beginning to feel like Moffat is treading water on this one. I have a feeling we'll get some answers in episode seven in two weeks and hopefully it will be worth the wait.

But as visually interesting as the story is and with a few hints sprinkled here and there, the rest of the piece just wasn't all that interesting. Large portions of the second half of the episode felt like they were treading water to get to the cliffhanger***. Then it also felt like we were treading some of the same ground we did in last year's Siluarian two-parter. The new Gangers and their right to life and the war coming because of a mis-understanding and the lack of ability of one human being to see the big picture felt like it was taken right out of the second half of the Silurian set last year. And it's not like that story was delving new ground itself...

***I called the cliffhanger the first time the Doctor touched the large vat of goopy flesh, figuring somehow we'd get a Doctor duplicate running around.

Meanwhile, we continued a trend of the Doctor being separated from the TARDIS. Maybe it's an homage to the early days of the show when a lot of the conflict of the stories came from the TARDIS crew not being able to get back to the ship. Or maybe it's my fascination with the classic series and a recent visit back the first Doctor era that's making it seem more apparent than it really is.

In the end, the story wasn't exactly thrilling, but it wasn't exactly terrible. It was just sort of there. I didn't love it or hate it. And most damning, I'm not all that hooked to see where it all goes next week.

Hopefully the second half can redeem the story.

30 Day of Doctor Who: Overrated Story

2011-05-20T12:07:00.002-05:00

Years ago, a genre magazine published a list of the top ten sci-fi and fantasy TV episodes of all-time. The list included entries from Star Trek, The Twilight Zone and other big names in the universe of genre television. Coming in at number seven was Doctor Who and the Douglas Adams penned story, "City of Death."

All I could do was groan to myself.

The thing is that while I enjoy "City of Death" it's not necessarily the story I'd choose to represent the epitome of Doctor Who. A lot of times, I think fans get so caught up in the fact that it's written by Adams and has a lot of great one-liners, that they overlook that just having great one liners and a witty script doesn't a good story make. The other thing I feel makes the story's value more inflated in the minds of fans is that it comes in the midst of season 17, a season that has a polarizing effect on the fandom. Some love it, some don't like it. Overall the stories aren't much to write home about, so when you drop something that's above average like "City of Death" in there, it seems a lot better than it really is. Take this story and drop it into the Hinchcliffe era and it's be a middle of the pack story for the season.

I'm also fascinated by fans who say that "City of Death" is a really good place to introduce fans to the classic series. I guess it's the combination of Adams, filming in Paris and Tom Baker that makes them think this. But the problem is if your new initiate ends up loving "City of Death" then you're stuck. Why? Because they're nothing else in the Doctor Who canon quite like it. It's a unique little gem in there but it's not going to give a new fan a real taste of what this show is really like or about.

It's not a bad story. But it's not a great one either. I don't understand the lavish accolades heaped upon the story over the years. I've tried to see it (I've been trying for 20 plus years now) and I guess it just isn't ever going to be a classic for me.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Music

2011-05-19T11:18:00.000-05:00

When I first discovered Doctor Who many, many years ago, I stumbled across a record at my local library called Doctor Who: The Music. I quickly checked it out, took it home and began listening to it over and over again. I dubbed it off onto cassette and probably wore the poor thing out of the years.

The interesting thing was that I'd seen very little Doctor Who at this point, so this collection of music from the last Tom Baker season and the first Peter Davison season was all fresh to me. I recall envisioning sequences in my head in which the music might be used and then being pleasantly surprised when I finally saw the stories and heard how the music off the record was incorporated into the stories.

Eventually, the album was released onto CD with some other musical tracks and it's part of my collection today.

I have fond memories of that album and the incidental music on it. But it's only one snapshot of the overall musical legacy of Doctor Who. I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the solid work done by Dudley Simpson for years on the show. And while I like most of it, there's one particular soundtrack that really stands out in my mind.

It's the score to "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy." One sign of a good soundtrack is one that gets stuck in your head. "Greatest Show"'s does just that. It also sets the mood for the planet Segonax and the Pyschic Circus extremely well. It's light and airy when it needs to me, dark and imposing when it needs to be. It's one I've got the full score on CD and I enjoy listening to from time to time if I want to get it stuck in my head or tempt me to dust off the VHS copy of it and give it another viewing.*

*It should have been on DVD before now, but that's just me. Hopefully when it does come out, it will a great special edition worthy of the long wait.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Cliffhanger

2011-05-18T12:34:00.000-05:00

Classic Doctor Who is built around cliffhangers. The average story has at least three, meaning there's a lot to choose from when it comes to the top cliffhanger of all time.

That doesn't mean all the cliffhangers are necessarily great. Some of them are forced into an episode for the sake of having one. Some don't work that well and many of them lose their impact because of how the Doctor or whoever is in peril gets out of the situation.

But over the years, there have been a fair number that really worked at the moment and within the story itself, some that just stood out, some that left me eager for the next installment of the story. And choosing just one was difficult.

Would it be the cliffhanger from part two of "The Aztecs" as Barbara slowly walks up to the fallen Ian where her claims of being a goddess could be disprove and place the TARDIS crew in peril? Or how about the iconic cliffhanger from the first Dalek's story? Or what about that memorable one from "The Caves of Androzani" with the Doctor and Peri facing a firing squad and there being almost no means of escape, only to see the stinger come in as the guns open fire on them? Or how about the one from "Pyramids of Mars, Part 1" where the servant of Sutekh promises Sutkeh's gift of death to all humanity? And how could I forget the cliffhanger to the first part of "Remembrance of the Daleks" when a Dalek went up the stairs for the first time?!?

All of those are good...but if there's one cliffhanger that still gives me chills, still thrills me and still just gets under my skin no matter how many times I watch the story, it's the cliffhanger to part three of "The Curse of Fenric."

The Doctor has spent three episodes trying to keep the evil Fenric from being released and as part three ends, all hell is breaking lose. As the Doctor races back to try and stop the release of this evil force, he arrives to find it's too late. The story misdirects us for a moment, thinking that Fenric is inhabiting one character while it's taken over another. And slowly, we see the evil force rise behind the Doctor and utter the line, "We play the contest again, Time Lord."

What a great moment. If you want to see it, it's below. Just fast forward to about the 1:20 mark and watch from there....

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Novelization

2011-05-17T20:28:00.002-05:00

As I said a couple of days ago, I devoured the Target novelizations during my formative years as a Doctor Who fan. I had quite an extensive collection and I'm sure my poor English teachers rolled their eyes a lot when they saw me pull them out to read them. (I never did book reports on them or used them for class assignments).

For the most part, the Target novels were pretty good. Some were a lot better written than others. The real shame of the Tom Baker era is that it was so popular that the novelizations were rushed much faster, allowing little more than the opportunity to translate the script to the printed page. There wasn't the developing the story, characters and bringing in other subplots that other Doctor's eras received.

It's interesting now to hear the stories re-released as audio books. It's a fun trip down memory lane and they're great for running. I know the story well enough that if I miss a detail, I won't be too lost or left out. They're a great distraction.

But I'm really avoiding the main point of this post...and for a reason. I can't decide which is my favorite. A few days ago, I talked about how I was glued to "Day of the Daleks" when I first read it. It's still one of those novelizations that is better than the transmitted story in many ways.

It could easily be a favorite for the nostalgia factor. But that would overlook two gems from the later stages of the range, "The Curse of Fenric" and "Remembrance of the Daleks." It helps that these are two of my favorite stories and that the novels really enhance the transmitted stories. It also helps that they feature my favorite Doctor.

So, I guess you could say I've got three...and those three are it.

But overall the Target range was pretty solid and I have a lot of fond memories of it.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite and Least Favorite Comic, Favorite Short Story

2011-05-16T13:14:00.000-05:00

I'm combining a couple of days worth of posts here simply because while I love Doctor Who, I haven't followed it as closely in every single permutation or tie-in available.

That's true of the comics and short stories. I've read a few over the years and while I can recall moments from some, it's not always as clearly defined as say my favorite story or Doctor.

So, here we go...three in one!

Favorite comic: The Tides of Time
Least favorite comic: Don't have one
Favorite short story: Don't have one.

TV Round-Up: Doctor Who -- The Doctor's Wife

2011-05-16T12:13:00.000-05:00

On paper, the combination of Doctor Who and Neil Gaiman looks like a winner. And while many fans were looking forward to the season premiere of series six, I'd be willing more than a few were equally or more excited to finally see the story from writer Neil Gaiman finally hit our screens this year.

It's been rumored for six years now. And while we heard positive buzz on the story from the production team, cast and crew, I'll have to admit that as we counted down the hours until "The Doctor's Wife" finally aired, I was a mix of excitement and worry. Excited that I'd finally get to see it. Worried that my expectations would be so high that no episode could ever live up to them.

Those worries evaporated within the first three minutes of this magical episode and for the rest of the story I was swept up in what is one of the best episodes not only of the new series run but also the entire tenure of this long-running series. This one is making a serious run at my top ten of all time* Doctor Who stories based on my initial viewing.

* One of the things that vaults a story into my top ten is its re-watchability value...and the eagerness I have to re-watch the story. If a story demands a repeat viewing almost immediately after the closing credits have faded, that's a good sign. Such is the case here...

After receiving a hyercube message while in deep space, the Doctor takes the TARDIS outside our normal universe and lands on what appears to be an alien junkyard. The Doctor discovers the planet a large creature named House who lured in Time Lords to feed on them and energy from their TARDISes.

Also living on this world are a trio of people and an Ood, named Cousin. One of the trio is Idris, who behaves strangely and we eventually discover that House has pulled the personality Matrix from the TARDIS in order to feed on its energy. Upon the discovery that the TARDIS is the last of its kind, House decides to take over the ship and enter our universe to try and find more forms of energy on which to feed.

At several points in the history of Doctor Who, people who grew up watching the show and are fans have been given the opportunity to pen a script or two for the series. But none are quite as prominent (at least in fan circles) as Gaiman. Some of the stories penned by fans have been great ("Full Circle") while others went woefully over the line into fan-fiction with too many continuity references and muddle storylines ("Attack of the Cybermen.") Thankfully, "The Doctor's Wife" is from the same school that gave us "Full Circle."

Gaiman's story pays homage to the roots of the show as well as examining the fundamental relationship at the heart of the series. Over the years, the one constant piece of the show has been the TARDIS and while certain abilities the time machine may or may not possess have changed from story to story, season to season, it's still been one of the fundamental centers of the show. And yet, we've never really had an episode that really explored the nature of the relationship between the Doctor and his beloved time machine.

At least until now...

Gaiman equates the long relationship of these two travelers to that of a marriage and it works beautifully on every level. Lines about how the two chose each other to feel Gallifrey and see the universe were spot-on perfect as was the TARDIS's jealousy over the long line of companions who have traveled over the years. The chemistry between Matt Smith and Suranne Jones as Idris/the TARDIS jumped off the screen.

Seeing the two working together to try and build a functional TARDIS console of the bits of destroyed TARDISes on House was delightful.

But where Gaiman's script continued to deliver was in not just having the story be merely focused on the relationship of the Doctor and his TARDIS. Just as Rob Sherman did with "Dalek" a threat was created to keep the story momentum. In this case, it's Amy and Rory trapped inside House as the TARDIS, participating in the Doctor Who Olympic sport of corridor running. Seeing House's games he played with the two to try and keep them from reaching their ultimate goal and deciding whether or not to keep them alive kept the story moving and on the edge of your seat.

It's one of those cases were the script gets every big thing and every little thing absolutely right and you end up with a story that is, in my mind, an instant classic.

It took six years for Neil Gaiman's first Doctor Who script to see our screens. Hopefully if he's got another idea half as good as this one, we won't have to wait six more years to see it.

30 Day of Doctor Who: Least Favorite Novel

2011-05-13T22:48:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's choice of my favorite novel was a difficult one. Today's not as much.

As I said, I read all of the NA's and most of the MAs during the time they were published. And I enjoyed most of them.

But I will admit there were a few I didn't like. The leader in that field, by far was "The Pit."

It had the double whammy of coming after a solid string of NAs and also not being all that interesting or entertaining.

Part of my lack of love for it was I took it to a doctor's appointment and was stuck with it in the waiting room. So not only was it not doing it for me, I was also stuck reading it because I had little other choice.

Not a good combination.

Good Night....

2011-05-13T12:20:00.002-05:00

One of the funniest moments from Rick and Bubba ever happened this week.

I think it may even top "Willy and Wanda."

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Novel

2011-05-12T22:27:00.000-05:00

Recently, the BBC aired a radio program examining the impact of Doctor Who in print on the reading habits of children of that era. The program specifically looked at the Target line of novels that in the era before home release of Doctor Who and UK repeats of early serials, was the only way some fans had of finding out what happened in earlier Doctor Who stories.

I read and had an extensive collection of the Target novels in my younger days. And then when the series was put on hiatus for fourteen years, I moved over into the original fiction lines of the New Adventures and the Missing Adventures.

And I have to admit, I loved them. I believe I've read the entire line of the New Adventures and a great majority of the Missing Adventures. And while I can't recall specific details of every novel I read, there were a few that stood out.

One was "The Dying Days" or as I call it, "The TV Movie Done Right." Lance Parkin tells the elements of the TV movie that worked and crafts a far better story than the TV movie did. Of course, I can see why it'd never work to bring in new fans, but that doesn't mean I still didn't love it.

Then there was just about any novel by Paul Cornell from "Human Nature" to "Love and War" to "No Future." I can remember eagerly anticipating a lot of the books and being glued to the pages for "The Also People" and "Legacy."

And then, there's "Conundrum." The story takes place in the midst of a five-book arc in which an old adversary has returned. The novels do a nice job of keeping the identity of this old adversary under wraps, all while telling some fascinating, intriguing stories. And while I'm sure a lot of fans will disagree with me and wonder why I didn't pick "The Dying Days" or "Human Nature" (both very good), I'm putting up "Conundrum" as my favorite novel. It's one of those books I picked up at the bookstore one evening and once I cracked the cover, I couldn't put it down. A lot of it's probably nostalgia for how much I enjoyed it at the time and how eager it made for the next books in the series (it's the third of the five books).

I loved the book then, though I wonder at times if my nostalgia for it is similar to how fans who grew up watching the older serials felt about those stories looking back. I recall the days of the Doctor Who Magazine letters column where fans would hold up certain stories as the great ones and talk about how Doctor Who had never been that good before and would never be that good again. Of course, it was easy to say since most fans hadn't seen the story or stories in question. But then along came VHS and the stories were released...and the general opinion shifted a bit. Some stories were confirmed as classics, others were re-evaluated. I'm afraid that if I were to go back and re-read "Conundrum" and the entire NA line now, I might re-evaluate things. But until I find the time to do that, I'll count this one as my favorite novel.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Least Favorite Audio

2011-05-11T11:34:00.000-05:00

When I first heard that Big Finish planned to re-create the "lost" season 23, I was intrigued. As a fan of the show during the 18-month hiatus between seasons 22 and 23, I'd always been curious about what was planned for the Doctor and Peri during that time.

So maybe my expectations were a big too inflated. Or maybe there's a reason that the two stories we'd all heard so much about being part of the "lost" season for so many years were abandoned with the series came back. Or maybe it's the fact that the two stories I heard were in serious need of some editing.

Whatever the reason, I have to say that "Mission to Magnus" just didn't quite do it for me. It's a story involving the sixth Doctor and the Ice Warriors. That may be part of the problem. The Ice Warrior voices are a high whispery sound. Put that onto an audio release and it becomes rather problematic. (It's similar to the issue you face translating the Daleks to audio....not exactly the most robust or interesting monsters to listen to long bits of dialogue from). The story feels padded, overlong and is, in general, a mess.

And then you've got the return of Sil. He was good in "Vengeance on Varos" and tolerable in "Mindwarp." But the third time isn't the charm and this and "Mindwarp" show that less is more with some characters.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Audio

2011-05-10T09:51:00.003-05:00

I'll have to admit I'm not up to date on all the audio releases out there under the Doctor Who banner. That's because there are simply so many coming out that I'm not sure I have time to listen to them all and do other silly things like earn a living, sleep, eat and watch new episodes of Doctor Who.

I've listened to a few over the years. Admittedly, they're hit or miss and not something I generally revisit like I do the television stories.

But they can still be an interesting diversion while exercising, working around the house or during a road trip.

In fact, my favorite audio comes from a road trip I took years ago. A good friend loaned me her collection of the first "season" of stories with the eight Doctor, Paul McGann to help pass the time. The first couple were good, but it was when I hit "The Chimes of Midnight" that things really kicked up a notch. The story felt like a Doctor Who story, one that clearly understood how to work within the strengths and limitations of the audio story but that could easily have translated into a story for the show should it ever come back.

The story was compelling, interesting and it held my interest for its entire run time.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Director & Least Favorite Director

2011-05-09T12:38:00.000-05:00

Combining two days into one post, simply because I may not have as much to say about the directors category as I do about others.

A lot of times, when I debate the merits of Doctor Who stories, a lot of my focus is on who wrote it the story and which producer and/or script editor was behind the scenes. But it's not often that I consider who directed the story. This is partially a bias I have towards writers, but I think it also speaks to the level of direction that the series had for years. The directors had a huge burden, especially in the classic era, of bringing the story to life on-screen, all within the rather limited budget Doctor Who had. The series has wobbly sets and I'm sure the effects were limiting in their way.

And while we're quick to credit the actors, writers and producers for the show's long success, the directors have to be part of it as well.

When it comes to a favorite director, my first impulse is to say Alan Wareing. He directed three stories during the seventh Doctor's era and all three were visually feasts. The strongest (for me) is "Greatest Show in the Galaxy" which benefited from having to film in tents in the BBC parking lot due to an asbestos scare because the story was set at the circus. But beyond that, there are some nicely done camera angles and shots that help make this one of the more atmospheric and unnerving stories of its era. And that's all before you add in "Ghost Light" to the mix...

As for my least favorite director, I'm not really sure I have one. For some reason, there's not really a director for the show that garners the lack of enthusiasm I get for certain writers and producers.

TV Round-Up: Doctor Who -- The Curse of the Black Spot

2011-05-09T06:22:00.000-05:00

In the overall arc of the sixth series of Doctor Who, "The Curse of the Black Spot" has the poor luck of being sandwiched between two highly anticipated episodes--the two-part season premiere and the Neil Gaiman episode.

It's a slot that could easily be on that surprises or delights us as "Blink" did a few years ago.

Instead "Black Spot" wasn't necessarily terrible, but it wasn't necessarily great. It was just sort of there.

Part of the problem is the the first half of the episode really doesn't do much beyond answer the question, "Wouldn't it be cool if the Doctor was on a pirate ship?" Once we establish that we're on a pirate ship that's not moving and that there's some threat to crew if you injure yourself, the story is content to throw out a series of red herrings in an attempt to keep the Doctor from deducing too quickly what exactly is going on here.

If the two part season premiere felt like it was taking some of Moffat's favorite themes and throwing them into a blender, "Black Spot" upped that feeling of "been there, done that" by giving us an almost laundry list of greatest hits from the new series run and Moffat's tenure as producer.* Not necessarily a bad thing, mind you but after the show significantly upped the ante last week, it felt like this straight-forward a story was a step sideways instead of a step forward.

* It also doesn't help that large chunks of "Black Spot" feel like they're lifted from the Jon Pertwee four-part story "Carnival of Monsters" including the TARDIS materializing on a ship inside of something else and the crew being observed. In both stories, a force outside the ship removes the TARDIS from the ship to the outside universe.

It's also a bit of reminder that the series is designed for children because while the adult side of me was picking things apart and seeing a greatest hits medley, there's a part of me that knows if I'd seen the story when I was twelve, I'd have been delighted by the episode. The Doctor, Amy and Rory having swashbuckling adventures on a pirate ship is just one of those kinds of stories that screams out for kids to enjoy reliving on the playground all week as we build up to the next installment.

Atmospherically the story worked and the series continues to be visually beautiful to behold. It's fascinating to see how Moffat juggles the budget each year to have big ticket items like a trip to America, complete with scenic vistas in Monument Valley the past two weeks but still manages to create the worlds we see here--both the pirate ship and the alien space craft we see in the final half of the story.

And I don't fault any of the acting work here. Stephen Thompson as the pirate captain is solid enough and Lily Cole as the mermaid/holographic healing program isn't asked to do much besides look pretty and be threatening. Of the two, Thompson is the stronger with what he's given but there wasn't really a lot here to work with.

But in the end, it felt more like this one is a catch your breath episode between last week and next week. And maybe the calm of the sea as seen in the storyline here is meant to foreshadow that this is the calm before the storm for the rest of series six (well, at least the first half, anyway).

We'll have to wait and see.

30 Day of Doctor Who: Least Favorite Writers

2011-05-06T14:06:00.002-05:00

Just as yesterday's category generated an instant response, so does today's category. Who are my least favorite writers in Doctor Who history?

If you notice the plural and you're a classic series fan you can probably guess what's coming.

It would have to be Pip and Jane Baker. The writing team contributed three and a half scripts to the classic series run and most of them are better forgotten. Part of it could be that they wrote during a time when the behind-the-scenes events of the show were almost more interesting than what we saw on screen.

And maybe if they'd stopped writing with "Terror of the Vervoids" and part two of "The Ultimate Foe," I might have been more willing to forgive and forget. But then we got "Time and the Rani," a story that fails on just about every level. It's not my least favorite story, but it's definitely bottom five and one of the least auspicious debuts for a new Doctor ever written. How much of this is the Bakers' fault, I'm not sure...but their name is on it so I give them a large part of the blame.

30 Day of Doctor Who: Favorite Writer

2011-05-05T01:00:00.000-05:00

Poll ten classic Doctor Who fans about their favorite writer and odds are you're going to get the same response time after time--Robert Holmes.

We may disagree on which Doctor we like best, which story is the best and which era of the show is the best, but the one thing most classic series fans agree on is that when it came to Doctor Who, no one did it better than Robert Holmes. Nor was there another writer who offered quality scripts over a longer period of time for the show's run than Holmes did.

Holmes either penned or had a hand in crafting a lot of the stories in my top ten list. His list of writing credits for the series is impressive and his tenure as script editor is seen by many as one of the golden ages of Doctor Who. His first two stories are largely forgettable, but his third story ("Spearhead from Space") is a classic and from that point forward Holmes rarely misses a step. (When Doctor Who made its comeback in 2005, RTD cribbed a lot of the best parts of "Spearhead" for "Rose" though Davies' story isn't even in the same league as Holmes.)

Holmes contributed a script a season for four of the five Pertwee seasons and then took over as script editor when Tom Baker came on the scene. Holmes either wrote or heavily rewrote every script the show produced for the next three years. Even the biggest clunker of that era ("The Android Invasion") still has at least something to recommend about it.

Holmes didn't end his association when he left his script editing duties. He offered a few other scripts, some good, a couple of great and then one that was sadly a rough draft for what many consider his finest achievement several years later. I deny you to watch "Power of Kroll" and not see elements of "Caves of Androzani" lurking in there.

Holmes was respected enough that he was the first choice of the production team to write the 20th anniversary story. It didn't happen because Holmes didn't feel he could fit in all the pieces John-Nathan Turner wanted. And while I enjoy "The Five Doctors" I still can't help but wonder what might have been with the 20th anniversary story from Holmes.

But it all set up his crowning achievement, "Caves of Androzani." Holmes would write a couple of more scripts before his untimely death and while they weren't great they still had a lot to recommend about them. (I still say episode one of "The Two Doctors" is the best single episode of Colin Baker's era).

With modern Who, only Steven Moffat has come close to being in the league that Holmes was--not just for good stories but consistency over time. But Moffat will still have to work long and hard to be as well love as Holmes is.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Historical Story

2011-05-04T11:20:00.000-05:00

Given how good the BBC is at historical drama, it's pretty much a no-brainer that they'd be good at creating historical stories for Doctor Who.

Let's not forget the original intent of Doctor Who was to teach younger viewers about history. That intention just got a bit sidetracked five weeks into the series run with the Daleks proved to be a pretty big deal.

But it was the historical stories that were the bread and butter for the show early on it is run. Outside of the Daleks, there weren't a lot of other really memorable early adversaries or monsters for the TARDIS crews to face. But there were a handful of historical stories that were superbly realized and fairly well executed.

I've never seen all seven episodes of "Marco Polo" though from what I hear it was fantastic. I've listened to the narrated soundtrack of the story and found it a compelling and fascinating story. I just wish we had the visuals to go along with it. They're recreated it as much as they can on the DVD set "The Beginnings" but it's just not the same as seeing all seven episodes in their original black and white glory.

That leaves the second historical story, "The Aztecs" as my favorite historical story. The TARDIS crew travels back in time to visit the kingdom of the Aztecs. Barbara is mistaken for an Aztec god and the chief of sacrifice, Tlotoxl is threatened by her arrival on the scene and sets out to prove she isn't who she says she is. That's because Barbara has decided she'll change the course of history by ending the Aztec's practice of human sacrifice. Despite warnings from the Doctor that she can't change history like that, Barbara plows forward and learns a hard lesson.

In a lot of ways, "The Aztecs" has all the components of a typical early William Harntell story. Most of the conflict comes from the fact that the TARDIS crew is cut off from the ship and must find a way to get back to it before time runs out. In this case, the ship is sealed into the tomb of the god Barbara is impersonating (she is mistaken for him when she puts on a bracelet found inside the tomb).

And while a lot of the early cliches of the show are on display, they're presented in such an entertaining way that you don't mind. The conflict between the Doctor and Barbara is exactly right and is what elevates the story to classic status. That plus the fact that Ttotoxl chews the scenery well and is a genuine threat to the TARDIS crew and their safety. Watching as he manipulates events to help his cause is compelling and fascinating.

Add in that it features one of my favorite cliffhangers from the Harntell era (episode two) and you've got not just a great historical story but one of the best Doctor Who stories ever produced.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Foreign Episode

2011-05-03T04:01:00.000-05:00

During the 80s, producer John Nathan Turner was great at coming up with ideas to promote Doctor Who. One of his ideas was to take the show on location to other countries and shoot parts of various stories.

Good idea, but the results are a bit mixed. The original idea of taking "The Two Doctors" to American and New Orleans to film had to be punted when some of the American financing fell through. And the use of Amsterdam for some of the Earth-bound segments of "Arc of Infinity" seemed like a good idea on paper (and possibly to JNT for a company-paid-for vacation), it didn't quite translate as well in the finished product.

It'd be tempting to say the recently aired two-part opening to series six was my favorite, if only for the sweeping shots of Utah's Monument Valley. (I've got to visit someday just to see the vistas where Doctor Who filmed as well as some of my favorite movies of all time, especially The Searchers).

And while "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon" are still fresh, they aren't instant classics in my mind. But the visual work done on the location shooting is enough for me to put name them as my favorite "foreign" story, for now.

I will admit "Planet of Fire" was in the running for a bit, but the scenes filmed at the volcano amount to little more than standard "let's create an alien world in a quarry" filming for the UK-filmed stories.

30 Day of Doctor Who: Favorite Monster

2011-05-01T20:35:00.002-05:00

When I first discovered Doctor Who, my local PBS station was in the middle of two longer eras that didn't feature an appearance by the Doctor's greatest enemies, the Daleks.

My entry into to the Tom Baker years missed "Genesis of the Daleks" by two weeks and and I was in the middle of the Davison years and "Revelation of the Daleks" was still a good bit off. So, my first exposure to the Doctor's greatest enemies came on the pages of a novelization--in this case "Day of the Daleks" by Terrance Dicks.

This Pertwee-era story was a bit confusing to me at the time. Being new to the show, I wondered at what point Jo Grant would travel with the fourth Doctor. (I was young and there was no Internet in those days. And I had yet to discover "The Programme Guide" at my local bookstore). If you were an American fan during this era, you may recall the Pinnacle published series. Basically it was a reprint of the Target novel with a different cover and an introduction by Harlan Ellison (in which he proclaimed Doctor Who the greatest sci-fi TV show ever made).

I recall being glued to this novelization. It's one of the early entries from the line and Terrance Dicks was given time to expand the story. So much so that I was eventually disappointed when I finally saw it because it didn't live up to the image I'd created in my mind for the story. And it was there I was hooked on the Daleks and couldn't wait to see them.

I eventually did and I loved them. So much so that when I met Sylvester McCoy years later, my burning question was had he met the Daleks yet. At the time, he hadn't, but he said he'd head back to the BBC and ask them to put a story into development since the American fans were demanding it. Weeks later, I heard "Remembrance of the Daleks" was headed our way for season 25...and some part of me imagined McCoy had gone back and asked for it to me made just for me.

I'll admit it--I'm a sucker for the Daleks. But I like it when they're used well in a story. And while they cast a giant shadow across all other monsters in Who history, there are a handful of stories that show us why they're so memorable. They look truly alien and they have a fascinating history--both on-screen and behind the scenes. It's also best when you try to ponder their chronology to not really think about it too much. There are gaping holes in it and things done because no one ever thought the series would be repeated at any point, much less scrutinized the detail that fans do today.

But good or bad, I still get a bit of a twinge of excitement when I hear the Daleks are coming back for an episode. They're still my favorite monster and probably always will be. A superb creation and the thing that helped put the show on the map and catapulted Doctor Who to its long run. If not for the Daleks, Doctor Who would be this 13-week show that ran in 1963 and was forgotten.

TV Round-Up: Doctor Who, "Day of the Moon"

2011-04-30T21:10:00.001-05:00

Reviewed by: Michael Hickerson (Slice of SciFi Editor)

If "The Impossible Astronaut" was all set-up, then "Day of the Moon" should have been mostly pay-off. And, for the most part, it was. Except for the fact that watching this two part opener to series six, I couldn't shake the feeling I used to get during Lost and The X-Files--namely that we were answering one question only to replace it with six or eight more.

At this point, I still have faith in Steven Moffat to deliver the answers. But I still have a bad feeling no matter what answer we get to the puzzle that is River Song, it won't be nearly as satisfying or as interesting as many of us have speculated and dreamed up on our own. (Or worse yet, it won't jive with what we've dreamed up and we'll take it out on the show in a backlash).

But, for now, I'm mostly satisfied.

"Day of the Moon" was a less frantic episode than we saw last week. Last week was all atmosphere and exposition. This week was trying to be about resolution, but it still seemed to be missing some of the atmosphere that we had last week.

That's not to say it was terrible. It just wasn't quite what I expected.

The Doctor discovers that the Silence aren't invading Earth, but they've been here the entire time. They've been out there, manipulating human history...but for what reason? We find out they want and need a space suit and send humanity to the moon, but we don't really see why. Was it somehow the Doctor manipulating them into doing this so he could expose them? Or are the Silence trying to expand their empire across time and space?

And has the Doctor made some kind of new, profound enemy that will haunt him across the season? It certainly seems like we aren't done with the Silence.

I did like the way in which Moffat pulled in pieces from the past to show the Silence have been with the show all during the Matt Smith era. We had the blatant foreshadowing from "The Eleventh Hour" referenced, but we also saw how the word Silence has been mentioned. Add in that last year's "The Lodger" saw a Silence control console in the upper room and it's clear that the Doctor has been a thorn in the side of the Silence for some time now--he probably just wasn't aware of who or what he was battling.

We're still left with a lot of pieces that don't quite fit yet. Again, back to my X-Files comparison, it's frustrating to have an episode that sets up some potentially long-term, game-changing threads for the series only to have the show try and go back to some jolly adventure next week. If you watched The X-Files as it unfolded, you may recall that some of the most frustrating episodes were those right after the mythology stories. But, given how we saw the series has been putting building blocks into place since Smith took over, I'm willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt that even the standalone stories won't be too standalone in the grand scheme of things.

I also have to wonder if somehow history has been changed for various characters. I refer specifically to the River's kiss of the Doctor and her statements following it and the question of whether or not Amy is really pregnant. It feels like we have two realities unfolding here and that we could create some kind of time paradox. I have a feeling this is more the case with River and it makes me wonder if the terrible day she refers to in the future is part of her memories and the Doctor's memories coming together and not meshing. It they're passing at different points in their timeline, then at some point there has to be a middle..and I have a feeling that middle or crossroads will be the dark day River has referenced several times.

When it all comes down to it, I was hoping for more definitive answers than we got. And while I'm sure that Moffat has a plan for this season and beyond, I hope it does't take too long to get to those answers.

A couple of quick, random points.

Kind of implied that the Doctor creates the Watergate tapes. Nice nod.
I'm willing to accept that the TARDIS can jaunt all over and reach specific points in time and space as needed because River was there. Using it to shuttle Nixon around was nicely done.
Anyone think the Doctor was being shut inside another Pandorica as Canton was building the box? And whose idea was it? Surely the Doctor must have given it to him since I can't imagine Canton would know the type of material to use to shut out the universe.
Back to last week's story. In 1969, was Star Trek a big enough show or in the public mind enough for the doomed woman to reference it on seeing the Silence?
Hopefully we can bury the Rory jealousy thread for good.
Moffat is good at creating monsters that are like waking nightmares. However, at times the Silence felt a bit like a combination of greatest hits of various other monsters he's used in previous scripts.
I did like how the Silence were defeated by exposing them via the moon landing broadcast. That just seems Doctor-like.
I did wonder how the Silence got into the TARDIS and if it might still be there. I'm assuming it's not but it could be a thread and threat for later this season.

30 Day of Doctor Who: Least Favorite Companion

2011-04-30T10:47:00.002-05:00

On the one hand, it would be tempting to put Rose down as my least favorite companion. But it's not that I don't like her...I just didn't like the direction the character took in her one season with David Tennant and the fact that the show wouldn't let her be gone for good once she stopped traveling with the Doctor.

But I liked her enough in the first season and enjoyed her work enough with Christopher Eccleston to keep her from the absolute bottom of my list of companions.

And it'd also be easy to take the chance to name proverbial Doctor Who whipping boy Adric as the least favorite. Again, it goes back to how Adric was written, especially in the Davison years. (The fact that he was constantly changing sides against the Doctor got old REALLY fast). But without Adric, you don't have one of the defining moments of the 80s for Doctor Who and one of the defining moments of the entire series run.

So, I'll have to go and say my least favorite companion is Grace Holloway. It's not really fair, but it's true. She only featured in one story and she didn't really make all that great an impression. Part of it could have been how the Fox back door pilot movie was promoted at the time. And maybe given some time to travel with the McGann Doctor, she might have developed into something more. But I honestly don't love her, but I don't hate her. She's not the most memorable part of her single story and I wasn't all that upset to think she might not be a series regular if Fox had picked up the show. And that's why she's my least favorite....for simply not making enough of a first-impression.

30 Day of Doctor Who: Favorite Companion

2011-04-29T14:01:00.000-05:00

Picking a favorite companion on Doctor Who is almost worse than picking a favorite Doctor, if only because there are nearly twice as many people who've traveled in the TARDIS with the good Doctor over the years.

And many of you who know may be may think I'd pick Peri as my favorite companion. And while I like certain aspects of Peri (and Nicola Bryant)*, I'd have to say that Peri isn't my favorite companion.

That honor goes to Ace.

She traveled with my favorite Doctor and was part of what I considered a renaissance for the show in its later years. As a character Ace had a story arc and as a female companion, more was asked of her than to just scream at the various monsters and to get into trouble. Her famous nitro nine was just one aspect of this.

Ace doesn't quite fit the mold of a companion, but that may be why I like her. Whatever the reasons, she's my favorite companion.

* (If you want to find the aspects of Nicola Bryant that really appealed to me as a young fan (and even today for that matter) just do a Google search for Peri bikini "Planet of Fire." That should explain it all...)

30 Days of Doctor Who: Least Favorite Doctor

2011-04-28T06:17:00.000-05:00

Today's category is a difficult one for me.

I don't mean to sound like a huge Doctor Who apologist, but I can honestly find something I like about each era of Doctor Who and each actor who has played the role over the years. So, choosing a "least favorite" Doctor is probably a great deal more difficult than choosing a favorite.

In my earliest days, I might have said William Hartnell was my least favorite Doctor. But that was before I re-watched and re-evaluated the first Doctor's era and came to appreciate it. And it'd be easy to cite him since just a few days ago, I cited "The Web Planet" as my least favorite story from the show's long tenure.

So, I've really thought long and hard about this and I've come up with my answer. My least favorite Doctor is David Tennant. I don't say this as some kind of classic Doctor Who snob, but more out of a reaction to the end of his era and the end of Russell T. Davies time as producer. It's not that Tennant was a bad Doctor, but I think his victory lap season of specials really just rubbed me the wrong way. In just four stories, you saw every excess of the era on display, especially in the final two parter "The End of Time." Tennant was good when he first took over the role, but like Tom Baker he did better when reigned in more. And, unfortunately, the longer his era ran the less reigned in he got.

I'd still be curious to see what a season from Tennant and Steven Moffat would have looked like. I'm of the firm belief that the thing that helped Tom Baker's last season be so good was his being reigned in by John Nathan Turner and Christopher H. Bidmead.

Anyway, I'm sure I've just offended three-quarters of the fans who've only watched the new series. But, in a way, some of those fans are to blame for this reaction. It's their blind devotion to Tennant and his era and the claim that no other Doctor can be as good or better (sorry, folks but Matt Smith is better), that may be contributing to part of this choice. But as it stands right now, David Tennant is my least favorite Doctor.

But don't worry...that could all change in a couple of years when some time has passed and I can re-evaluate the era again.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Doctor

2011-04-27T06:15:00.000-05:00

One of the interesting things about being a fan of Doctor Who for so long now is watching how the opinion on certain actors, eras and stories has ebbed and waned over the years. And while in the long run, Tom Baker will probably end up being the favorite Doctor of a majority of Doctor Who fans, it's interesting to save David Tennant take over the top spot in the most recent polls.

It reminds me of the fact that for a couple of years in the late 80's, it was the seventh Doctor Who took the top spot in the polls as Favorite Doctor.

That position certainly agreed with my assessment at the time. And the seventh Doctor is still my favorite to this day.

Of course, there's a bit of a story behind it. In a way, I was probably pre-disposed to like the Sylvester McCoy era even before I saw the first few minutes of it on my television screen. During the early years of my fandom, I lived in San Jose, California, one of the bastions of Doctor Who in the 80s. KTEH showed Doctor Who six days a week--a single episode each evening and a complete story in episode format Saturday nights. The station lived and died by Doctor Who and they worked hard to make sure we had the newest episodes as soon as possible. They also sponsored gatherings and events for fans, including a local fan club and a convention.

I never got to go to the local fan club or a convention. But I dig get to go the traveling Who-mobile. It was basically an 18-wheeler trailer that you went inside and saw various costumes and sets from the show, including the TARDIS and a Dalek. Outside was a replica of Bessie, the car the third Doctor drove during his time on Earth. As part of the experience, an actor from the show was brought along to drum up business and to make you feel like you were getting more for your money than an tractor trailer full of props.

For the Who-mobile's stop at KTEH, the actor involved was McCoy. This was right after he'd completed work on his first season on the show. I begged my parents to take me and my dad finally said he'd take me Sunday afternoon. So, off we went to see the Who-mobile and attend a Q&A with McCoy. McCoy was charming, entertaining and had at least one young Who fan in the palm of his hand. After getting an autographed copy of Doctor Who Magazine with McCoy on the cover, I was ready for his episodes to debut--especially given how great he'd made "Time and the Rani" and "Delta and the Bannermen" sound.

If you're a fan, you're probably snickering now because you'll know those two stories aren't exactly the pinnacle of Doctor Who greatness. And even then, I knew they weren't. But even though I generally didn't like those two and "Paradise Towers" the first time I saw them, I still liked McCoy. The season ended with "Dragonfire" and I saw potential. And then season 25 rolled around and I was hooked. McCoy knocked Tom Baker out of my top slot as my favorite Doctor and he's been there ever since.

Sure, his era isn't perfect. But no era is. And part of my love for the McCoy era and his Doctor comes from the work done in the New Adventures. But his work on the show and the stories in seasons 25 and 26 are enough to put him on the top of my list....

30 Days of Doctor Who: Least Favorite Story

2011-04-26T05:02:00.000-05:00

"The Web Planet"

For a series that's entering its 32nd season, Doctor Who has had some ups and its had some downs. Every era has its classics and then every era has those stories you'd just rather forget about it.

When I first began collecting the full run of Doctor Who years ago, I knew there'd be some stories I'd add to the collection simply to be a complete-ist and not because I necessarily wanted to revisit them on a regular basis. But at the top of that list was a six-part story from the first Doctor era, "The Web Planet."

Set on the plant Vortis, this six-part story from the William Harntell era finds the TARDIS landing on a web planet where several races of giant insects are in conflict. Called an "experimental" story at the time, it's one of many such attempts by the show over its run to push the boundaries of sci-fi television. And, unfortunately, it fails in just about every aspect. There's a legend among fans of the show that if you watch carefully, you can see the exact moment when series star William Russell decides it's time to leave the series. I'm not sure this is necessarily the case, but it's easy to see why Russell might believe the show is running out of steam.

The various insects are brought to life by a variety of techniques. Some are paper mache ants, others are people dressed up butterfly and bumblebee suits. It might be easier to forgive if not for the fact that the voices for the various insects can be a bit grating and that large chunks of this story are filmed with Vaseline smeared on the lenses. It's supposed to make Vortis look unearthly and alien. Instead it makes it appear fuzzy and like you should adjust the focus on your set.

On top of all that, the story isn't really that interesting or exciting. It's slow moving and it has a tendency to bore me to tears. Sure there are a lot of other stories that get a lot of things wrong, but at least they're not dull. This one is and that's why it's my least favorite Doctor Who story.

30 Days of Doctor Who: Favorite Story

2011-04-25T17:00:00.000-05:00

I've seen a couple of people doing this over on Facebook. And since this will eventually be pulled over to Facebook, here we go with 30 Days of Doctor Who Challenge.

First up....Favorite Story. (I'm reposting this from an entry I did in October of last year).

My answer is the seventh Doctor classic "The Curse of Fenric."

It's been my favorite since I first saw it years ago on my local PBS station and it's continued to top my list ever since. It's among my top five of all shows ever.

I even love it in spite of all the various versions that are out there. We have the original TV edit, the VHS extended edition and then the special edition movie version on the second disc of the DVD release. I've got all three (the TV edit and the special edition movie are on the DVD release), though I will say that I prefer the episodic extended edition on VHS. It helps make a jumpy episode one flow a lot more smoothly. (I'd almost say a three-disc "definitive" edition with all the versions on it should be released since the BBC is now starting to double-dip on the range).

And that doesn't even include the Target novel, which is among one of the best the range ever offered. (I've still got it along with my full run of all the seventh Doctor Target books since they were harder to find as the range ran its course). If there was a novel screaming for an audio release, it's this one.

It's not a great story to bring people into the Doctor Who fold, but it's still my favorite.

TV Round-Up: Game of Thrones -- The Kingsroad

2011-04-25T03:40:00.000-05:00

Let's start at the beginning--how cool are the opening credits for Game of Thrones? In a day and age when credits and theme songs are being cut to make room for more commercials, it's nice to know that at least on HBO we can have an opening title sequence that not only features a well done theme song, but also offers some clues to what's coming up in the episode. No, it's not snippets of what's to come in the hour as we saw with Battlestar Galactica. Instead, it's the map of Westeros showing us where much of the dramatic action will center that week.

This week, the story is split between the Wall, King's Landing, Winterfell and the land to the East. If last week's story was about getting us to dive into this world, this week's was about getting our bearings a bit and building up many of the characters we met last week.

Watching the story unfold, it's hard to not read too much into certain things, especially in light of having read the first two novels in this series. I think a lot of this is my adding shades of meaning and foreshadowing to certain lines and moments simply based on my knowledge of what's to come for certain characters and how their fates will play out (if the series remains as faithful to the books as these first two episodes have). It leads me to believe that Thrones could be one of those series that is rewarding to watch multiple times in order to pick up clues and hints once the audience has an idea of the bigger tapestry at work.

As Eddard reluctantly leaves Winterfell to assume his role as the King's Hand, Catelyn remains behind to care for Bran, who is unconscious after being shoved out of the tower last week by Jamie Lannister. Bran saw Jamie and his twin sister, who is also the queen, Cersei in a compromising position. One early scene finds the two discussing his fate and saying how it would be more merciful if Bran were to die instead of being crippled for life. As I said before, this is one of those scenes that takes on more meaning for the audience than some characters involved. Seeing Cersei go to Catelyn to offer comfort, the audience has to wonder if Cersei hasn't gone to try and end Bran's life or to determine how such a thing should be done. It doesn't help that an assassin shows up later to do just that, only stopped by Catelyn and Bran's direwolf.

It's interesting that one direwolf should save the family only to see that one has to be put down by the family as the episode concludes. Arrya is giving a sword by Jon Snow and is training with the butcher's boy. Joffrey comes across them and challenges the boy to duel. The scene shows the cruelty and arrogance of Joffrey, as well as his sense of entitlement. His arrogance catches up with him when Arrya defends her friend and her direwolf becomes involved. Joffrey is humiliated and Arrya flings his sword into the river. Joff covers it up to his mother and the king and Sansa doesn't help things. It's clear to see that Sansa is torn in her loyalties here, but she ends up siding with Joffrey and losing her direwolf in the bargain. (And having just finished up Clash of Kings over the weekend, this scene took on even greater nuances if you know where the Sansa/Joffrey storyline is headed).

At the center of this is Ned, trying to come to terms with his new role as the King's Hand and his love for his family. Ned and Robert sitting under the trees discussing their conquests and days at war was one of the highlight as the episode, as was the warning that war is coming. Ned quickly dismisses the threat of the Targaryens and the Dothraki alliance, saying that the alliance doesn't have the ships to make it to King's Landing much less begin to overthrow Robert. As the episode unfolds, you begin to get the feeling that Robert may have been the wrong man for the job as king.

Meanwhile, across the sea, Daenerys is coming to terms with what marriage to Drago really means. Watching her ask her maid for help in learning how to please Drago and not be taken so brutally was nicely done. Again, I think Emlia Clarke is one of the great assets the series has and she shows it here.

And all that doesn't even begin to get into getting our first real glimpse of the Wall. And it looks as spectacular as we all hoped it would.

The second week of the show may be even stronger than the first. While we're still getting a good deal of exposition, there's still enough rewards here to keep things interesting. I was amazed at how quickly the hour went by watching the latest installment.

It's hard to say which I enjoyed more--this episode or the return of Doctor Who. Both were solid and each can make their claim as one of the best things I saw last week.

TV Round-Up: Doctor Who, "The Impossible Astronaut"

2011-04-24T19:24:00.002-05:00

Seven years ago, I was really, really excited about the return of Doctor Who. As a long-time fan, I'd endured the wilderness years when being a Doctor Who fan wasn't necessarily cool, when merchandise was hard to find and every year on April 1, we got that inevitable the show is coming back thread cropping up. So, when news came that Doctor Who was returning in the spring of 2005, I was excited but skeptical. Finally, my skepticism was put to rest that Easter weekend in 2005 when the new series debuted and a new era of Doctor Who was born.

Seven years later, I was even more excited for the sixth series premiere of the revived Doctor Who. After a stellar season first series under the guidance of Steven Moffat and the acting of Matt Smith, I was eager to see where things would go next. Each rumor I heard, each preview sent tingles down my spine in a way that hasn't happened since season twenty-five of the classic series.

Add in that the series featured a two-part opener filmed in America and that the United States was getting the episodes on the same day as the U.K., and my expectations for series six in general and "The Impossible Astronaut" in particular were enormously high.

But were they too high? Could one episode live up to all of that hype in mind? Could Steven Moffat deliver again?

Thankfully, the answer so far is, yes, yes he can.

If you haven't seen the episode yet, here's where the heavy SPOILERS are going to start. And as with all Moffat penned stories, the twists and turns are better if you go in completely unaware of them. Just let the episode wash over you and enjoy it.

That's what I did.

Once again, Moffat's script is intent on playing with the notion that Doctor Who is a show about time travel. And while it could seem that Moffat falling back on old strengths, it's interesting that each story he's done investigating how time travel impacts the Doctor and those he comes into contact with has kept raising the stakes. Last year, the nature of time travel was used to save the entire universe. This time around, it's more personal with the Doctor killed in the opening ten minutes and Amy, Rory and River left to pick up the pieces. The Doctor has apparently sent invitations to several of those involved in creating the scenario in which someone in an astronaut suit will gun him down and then shoot him again mid-regeneration. But what led to this and why? And what is the Doctor up to with sending warnings and setting up this scenario? Is he trying to avoid the situation or is he creating it?

Moffat's script doesn't try to answer these questions just yet, but I have a feeling that even beyond the resolution in next week's story of this plotline, these questions will continue to inform series six. Also, the line of the Doctor running harder than he ever has is interesting. What is trying to catch up to him? Is it part of the silence falling that we heard about last year, but was left unresolved? Is it part of the cracks in time from last year?

But back to the specifics of this episode.

Moffat has been a writer who can create monsters that are creepy and unsettling. We've got the Weeping Angels as well as the gas mask children from series one. This time out, the monsters are something that are recognized when see but quickly fade from memory when not in view. They're encountered at various points in the story by everyone but the Doctor.

After assembling the old team, the Doctor and company head to 1969 and a mysterious call that President Nixon is getting each night from a child. The child is asking for help from the astronaut man. The Doctor inserts himself into the situation and begins to figure out what the calls mean and where they're coming from. The leads to Florida, where the same person in a spacesuit shows up again as do the mysterious creatures. Amy and River are trying to figure out if they should be working to make sure the Doctor doesn't die in the future they saw and its implications. Amy takes matters into her own hands when the astronaut suit reappears, leading to a cliffhanger than has be on the edge of my seat for next week.

As a story, "The Impossible Astronaut" is all about set-up. It dripped with atmosphere, tension and solid work from the leads. But to judge it fully, we'll have to wait until next week when Moffat begins to give us some answers and knock over the chess pieces he's put into play. I can't wait...

TV Round-Up: Game of Thrones -- Winter Is Coming

2011-04-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

Before the Lord of the Rings hit theaters a few years ago, I attempted to wade through the trilogy again by signing up for an on-line book club with Barnes and Nobel. In the forum, I recall a discussion about what was being kept for the movies and what wasn't. One fan posted they already hated the films and were going to weep during their entire viewing of Fellowship of the Ring because Peter Jackson and company had decided the subplot with Tom Bombadil would be cut.

The conversation just goes to show what a fine line has to be walked when it comes to adapting a beloved novel or series of novels for either television or movies. Keep too much to please the hard core fans and you alienate (and possibly bore) the casual fans who have dropped by to see what all the fuss is about. Leave out too much and you run the risk of having your core fan base turn on you or call you a sell out.

Thankfully, it appears that A Game of Thrones has found that happy medium that Lord of the Rings found (weeping Tom Bombadil fans aside) in adapting a much-loved fantasy series for the visual medium. A lot of that credit has to go to the producers getting George R.R. Martin on board as part of the project. While Martin has said he wrote the series to unfilmable, it's his background in television writing and storytelling for that medium combined with his knowledge of how this universe works that gives this adaptation a huge leg-up.

Of course, having a good sized budget and airing on HBO also helps a lot. This allows the books to keep the violence and the more adult themes in tact and not having to water them down too much for broadcast or basic cable audience. As the first hour of A Game of Thrones showed, this world isn't a magical fantasy one where everything is good. It's a dark, harsh and often cruel world in which a lot of good and bad things happen....and whether it's good or bad really depends on which character you are.

I've read the first installment in the epic fantasy series by Martin, so I had some idea coming in of who was who and where various alliances and loyalties lay in the universe of Westeros. And while it took a few moments to reconcile my own image of the characters with the actors cast, it didn't take long for me to pick up on who is who and how they all relate. I'm not sure if the series was quite as accessible to those making their first visit to Westeros, but I think this episode did enough to establish the big players in the saga and we'll see the other players fleshed out a bit more in future installments.

Of course, it's easy to single out the work done by actors Sean Bean and Peter Dinklage in this first installment. Part of this is name recognition and part of this is that both actors are perfectly cast as Ned Stark and Tyrion Lannister respectively. The other big name that jumped out is Lena Headey, familiar from her work on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. She doesn't make quite the impression here she will in future episodes, though the end of the episode does pivot around here (I have to give myself props for predicting where episode one would end.)

But beyond the three most recognizable names, there were a lot of other great performances. Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Tagarayan rose to the top. Watching as Daenerys is used as a pawn by her brother to help launch his bid to retake the throne of Westeros was compelling, as was Clarke's fear of her wedding night with her new husband. When you start off with hearing that a wedding isn't a wedding unless there's at least three people disemboweled and then turn to the stark statement that about what her brother would allow to happen to her to insure his return to power, the series works to establish how different this world is from ours..and how brutal it can be.

But where the show's success really rests most is the casting of the children. For every Haley Joel Osment, there are a dozen other child actors who just don't quite ring true. And with the children carrying a lot of the various plotlines in Thrones, their casting was essential to get right. Thankfully, it appears they've done just that. The Stark children are all well cast with Bran being memorable early, if only because of his part in the final moments of the episode.

There are a lot of opportunities here for the show to swing and miss. Thankfully for this first episode, it's a swing and a home run. It's obvious that A Game of Thrones is going to require a bit more of viewers in terms of actively watching the series and recalling details. But that's what good television can and often does demand of its viewers. I can see this one becoming easily as well thought of by fans of HBO shows The Sopranos, which also demanded fans keep up with plot threads and actively watch the series.

For the next weeks, we'll get new Doctor Who on Saturdays and new A Game of Thrones on Sundays. Talk about a perfect way to spend your weekend....

Happy Birthday, Beverly Cleary

2011-04-13T07:11:00.000-05:00

If there's one early influence bigger than Dr. Suess in my love of reading, it would have to be Beverly Cleary.

The children's book writer gave us the classic characters of Henry, Ribsy, Ralph S. Mouse, Beezus and, of course Romana.

I consumed her books growing up, reading each one multiple times. I can probably still recite passages from many of my favorites. Some of my favorite moments include Henry Huggins catching a salmon, Ramona's first day in kindergarten ("Sit here for the present.") and Beezus' disastrous haircut.

I've given her books to youngsters for b'days and other occasions, hoping they'll catch the same love of reading. I hope that someday if I'm blessed with children I can share the world Beverly Cleary created with them.

Today is Cleary's 95th birthday. So, let me add my wishes for a great birthday to Beverly Cleary and a thanks for helping open the door to a lifetime love of reading.