7 posts tagged “tv”

Last night's Lost season finale was a lot of fun. We got to see time travel (maybe), heroic sacrifice, reunions, death and destruction.  Highlights below (spoilers ahoy):

• Lots of running around back and forth by everybody.  Locke, Hurley and Ben escape from Keamy's team and are able to access the Orchid Station.  Locke and Ben attempt to "move" the island.
• We see the Oceanic 6 make their escape from the island.  Unfortunately, they leave Michael and Jin probably dead, and the remaining survivors (including Juliet and Sawyer) on the island.  Lapidus the helicopter pilot aids their escape.
  
• Heroic sacrifices galore (Desmond, Jin and Michael attempt to disable the bomb on the freighter, Sawyer gives up his seat on the rescue helicopter so everyone else can make it, Juliet stays behind to make sure everyone else makes it onto the freighter).
• We see how Ben escapes and time travels to the future in his Dharma parka.  We also see him use the "Frozen Donkey Wheel" to enable the island to be "moved".
• We see Claire haunt Kate and Christian Shepard as Michael's angel of death.  Mr. Eko returns as an unseen ghost haunting Hurley.  We see Michael and Jin probably killed by an explosion on the freighter.  Ben causes this by killing Keamy in a selfish act of revenge (Keamy had a kill switch attached to his heart; when he died, the bomb on the freighter went off).
  
• Miles, the man who can see dead people, wants to stay on the island.  He reveals that Charlotte may have other reasons for wanting to come to the island (she may have been born on the island).  Meanwhile, Daniel was shuttling a group back to the freighter when the island was "moved" and may have been caught in its effects.
• Happiest moment of the two hour episode is when Desmond reunites with Penny, who helps the Oceanic 6 create their cover story. To protect the island and its inhabitants from Charles Widmore, the Oceanic 6 lie to the world about what happened to them.
• In the future, everyone hates Jack for what happened in the wake of their rescue (Sun hates him for letting Jin die on the freighter, Kate hates him for his abandonment of her and Aaron, Hurley hates him for his abandonment of him at the insane asylum).  Sayid is still killing people on Ben's behalf.  Walt (having grown very tall) visits Hurley at the insane asylum.  I get the feeling he will have a role in their return.
  
• We finally discover who was in the coffin at the end of last season (Jeremy Bentham, a.k.a. John Locke).  We see Jack and Ben plot how they will get the Oceanic 6 together to go back to the island (and on to Season 5).

Overall, this was very satisfying.  We see all the loose ends from last season's finale tie together nicely with this season's.  They haven't answered all of the questions, but they've kept it interesting.

Regular Wednesday post: This one focuses on changing the Television Industry.  I have no insider insight, so this is just as a fan of TV.

1. Make all programming available on the internet
It's either this or continue to have viewers leave in droves.  Content is consumed at people's leisure now, due to the internet.  As long as people are watching the programs, it doesn't matter whether it's during the broadcast or after.  Advertising is the key, so if you watch it streaming, leave advertising in.  If you pay to download programs (e.g. via iTunes), commercials should be removed.

2. Forget seasons
By moving programming to the internet, it should no longer matter when a season starts and ends.  An easier way to look at programming is by quarters.  The shorter season should make the programming better.  The longer season leads to a lot of straggling by the writers.  Also, you should measure a success by including downloads and DVD sales to broadcast ratings.  All three should allow you to determine whether you continue the show.  Have as few interruptions as possible to the broadcast.  Broadcast the show for three months straight.  Market shows all year so that viewers can find shows and download/buy DVD as necessary.  Don't forget that some people may have more time to watch during the summer, so continue to broadcast new material then as well.

3. Tell a (big) story
Too many sitcoms go on too long and are no longer funny.  Too many dramas go on too long and wander about with the storylines.  By considering each show to be a maxi-series, you can control the larger story of what you want to say.  Lost, one of my favorite shows, has chosen to have a limited shelf life.  Its quality has improved because of that.  If all dramas would do that, you wouldn't have as much repetition in the content.  Even sitcoms could take advantage of this by telling a season-long story arc.

4. More variety and better quality in reality programming
Ugh.  I hate reality programming myself, but I recognize that others like it.  At the minimum, I would like to see different types of reality shows.  For example, why not have documentary mini-series, like PBS had with The War.  I don't need retreads of the popular shows like Survivor, Dancing with the Stars or American Idol.  Try something else, for a change.  At least, make it more intelligent.

5. Offer a la carte programming
I love sports, but I see no reason to buy networks I won't watch if I buy cable or satellite programming.  If I can buy one-time programs (say, a playoff game for my favorite team), I would be willing to do that.

6. Broadcast some programming in movie theaters
This is a win-win for both industries.  Fewer people are going to movie theaters.  Fewer people are watching TV.  For really special events (say, the NBA All-Star Game or a Miley Cyrus concert), broadcast live in 3D.  People could watch the new technology and want to see more 3D movies.

I know more and more people are disdainful of television, but there are plenty of good programs to watch.  These changes could get more people to watch.

The Office Season Finale: That was a funny episode; a huge improvement over the last few episodes.   A lot happened this week (SPOILERS AHEAD):

• Toby leaves Dunder-Mifflin to go to Costa Rica, but never tells Pam about his crush on her.  Michael can't withhold his irrational hatred of Toby, even as he leaves.
  
• Toby's replacement, Holly (played by Oscar nominee Amy Ryan), starts to like Michael (is that even possible?) while helping "mentally challenged" Kevin (the funniest part of the episode)
  
• Phyllis takes over for Angela as the office party planner and does an excellent job
• Pam gets accepted at her graphic design school, but will need to spend three months away from Jim in New York
  
• Jim, realizing that all of the best moments in his relationship with Pam have occurred at the Office, decides to propose to Pam.
  
• Andy proposes to Angela, although at the end of the episode, Angela ends up in Dwight's arms
• Ryan gets caught double-counting sales to Dunder-Mifflin Infinity and gets arrested.  Over the course of the season, he was shown being an arrogant jerk, so this was deserved.  Ryan was putting pressure on Jim to make sales, so Jim closes some deals and pushes back on someone in management for the first time.
  
• Jim chickens out of proposing to Pam because he doesn't want to steal Andy's thunder
  
• Michael talks to Jan and finds out she is having a baby via in vitro fertilization (isn't that expensive?  Jan still isn't working).  Michael agrees to be Jan's Lamaze partner.
  

Great ending to what was, unfortunately, an uneven season.  The best part of the season was the stories of the various couples (Jim & Pam, Michael & Jan, Dwight & Angela).  The writers seem to be running out of office politics types of stories, but we'll see if they have any juice left after they launch the spin-off series next spring.

Lost:  This was a great set-up to the Season Finale in two weeks.  It's kind of like The Two Towers in the Lord of the Rings trilogy where all of the chess pieces get moved around the board.  What I liked (SPOILERS AHEAD):

• We see a flash forward with the Oceanic 6 arriving in Hawaii after their rescue.  It was nice to see them greeted by their families.
• Hurley, Locke and Ben working together as a team to save everyone on the island.  I like how Ben is still an untrustworthy bastard, even if he tries to be a hero.
• We find out the danger posed by the freighter (lots of C4 explosives on board) and Keamy's team of mercenaries.  Daniel Faraday is aware of the danger of the Orchid station from his time travel adventures (we don't know how, just that he knows).
  
• The Sawyer and Jack team-up to try to stop Keamy's team.
  
• We see hints of the future of the Oceanic 6: Hurley and his mental health issues, Jack and the trauma with his late father, Sayid and Nadia reuniting, Kate bonding with Aaron, and Sun resolving her previously unspoken conflict with her evil father.  Jack also discovers that Claire was his half-sister.
  
• Daniel and Sayid start to take some of the Oceanic 815ers back to the freighter (they didn't know it was rigged with explosives).
• Sayid and Kate get captured by Richard Alpert and the Others.  It's going to be fun to see the war between Widmore and Ben play out.
• I suspect that Juliet will be one of those killed in the finale.  She's not one of the Oceanic 6 and her story seems to be coming to an end.  She lost out in the Jack-Kate-Sawyer-Juliet love quadrangle.  Ben "owns" her, but Widmore seems to be killing off anyone of value to Ben (his "daughter", for instance).
  

Overall, an excellent episode with lots of intrigue.  I can't wait for the finale.

The Office: It's still a bit uneven.  I think the strike hurt the comedies the most.  While I enjoyed parts of the episode (mostly Andy's incompetence on the golf course), it was mostly flat.  Nice development for Pam and Jim to take more control over their careers.  Otherwise, it was uneventful.  Hopefully, the season finale will improve upon these last few episodes.

Lost:  They're gonna move the island?!!!  How is that supposed to work?  More mythology, more better.  We don't necessarily get more answers in this Locke-centric episode, but you get a lot of head scratchers as to what's going on.  Like:

• Richard Alpert (and Matthew Abbadon) was watching Locke from his birth and monitored him while he was growing up
  
• Locke's birth and life story closely mirror Ben's (premature birth, outcast status growing up, etc.)
• Locke was always a man of faith and rejects science (via the Science Camp run by Mittelos) when he was a teenager
  
• The freighter seems to exist in the past compared to the island, as the doctor has just now been killed (but has already washed ashore the island)
  
• Horace Goodspeed, the Dharma hippie who got Ben and Ben's father onto the island, built the appearing/disappearing cabin of Jacob
• Jacob didn't show up, but Christian Shephard did
• Claire may/may not be dead, as she is communing with her and Jack's definitely dead father, Christian
• Ben and Locke have reversed roles, where Locke is now the chosen one of the island; also, Ben was not the leader of the Others during the Purge.  They didn't say who was.
  
• Sayid to the rescue!  Sayid heads back to the island to save everyone while Desmond's destiny lies on a different path (aboard the freighter waiting for Penny?)
  

Overall, an excellent episode that sets up the three-part season finale where we see the Oceanic 6 come home.

The TV season is almost over.  The Writers' Strike pretty much ruined the continuity of this season.  Many of the shows haven't been as good since they returned this month.  The ones that I like that are still good include:

1. Lost - My favorite show on network TV.  I loved the Benjamin Linus-centric episode on Thursday.  He is a fascinating and manipulative character.  I love it when this show goes all sci-fi, like in the episode "The Constant".  This is now just a cult show for the rest of us, since the casual fans are gone.

2. Aliens in America - My favorite comedy on TV.  Consistently funny and insightful; has a similar vibe to the dearly departed Freaks and Geeks.  Guaranteed to be canceled, just like Freaks and Geeks.

3. How I Met Your Mother - Good most of the time; works as a latter-day Friends.  The Britney Spears episode wasn't as blatant a ratings grabber as you would have thought.  So glad that they deemphasized Ted's quest for a wife from Season 1 (no guy looks for a wife like that: most guys take a girlfriend step-by-step in the relationship to "wife").

4. Reaper - Ever since they broke the monotony of "1. Get mission; 2. Get vessel; 3. Capture demon", the show has been hilarious.  I liked learning more about the Devil (Ray Wise is terrific as the Devil).  They also had a good story arc about the revolution of the demons.  More than likely will be canceled after this season.

5. The Office - Not as good as they were in the past, but still watchable.  I hope they don't split up Jim and Pam.  The normality of their relationship provides a nice contrast to the other really screwed-up relationships (like Angela and Andy, Jan and Michael, and Kelly and Darryl). I wouldn't mind if the season ended with Jim and Pam getting engaged.

Should be a fun month of May with the remaining episodes.

Man, that was possibly the most uncomfortable dinner party you could ever attend.  Jan and Michael, still fighting after the deposition for her lawsuit against Dunder-Mifflin, attempt to hold it together in front of their invited guests, Jim, Pam, Andy and Angela.  If I were Jim and Pam, I would have worked harder to escape.  Overall, this wasn't a laugh-out-loud hilarious episode so much as the so-uncomfortable-you-have-to-squirm episode.  Although, based on how the Deposition episode ended, it's surprising that Jan and Michael are still together (they probably won't be after this one).  The contrast between the three couples (and Dwight and his "date" later) was interesting.  Jim and Pam, the happy couple; Andy and Angela, the incompatible couple; and Jan and Michael, the fighting couple.  Looking forward to the remaining episodes this season.

In the episode of Lost last night, we find out how Michael ends up on the freighter.  Overall, a pretty good episode.  More evidence of what a manipulative bastard Benjamin Linus is.  Loved the weirdness of how the island prevented Michael from committing suicide twice (the car crash and the gunshot to the head).  I have no idea who to believe is responsible for the faked Oceanic 815 crash at the bottom of the ocean.  It's a shame we have to wait another month before they conclude this season.