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Meeting Jack

IVe been enjoying my holiday. Playing videogames, watching summer shows that dont really deserve writing about etc.

So that is why i havent been here. But now I finally have a reason to. Matthew Fox visited Hungary last night and I was there to catch him and take a few photos and ask for a signature!




I also managed to say a few words to him. Of course i was a drooling fanboy so all I could say that he's doing an increasingly amazing job on the show. He thanked me and smiled! ah, story of my life!
Posted by JBentham, 06/14/2009 11:02pm
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Best of 08/09, my picks

Thanks everyone for voting! Now I've finally caught up and so I can post my picks.

LOOOONNGGGGGGG post ahead!

Best Drama:

Winner: Lost => No doubt. Extremely consistent season with some of the highest points of the entire show. And a finale that changed everything.

Silver: The Shield => The final season started off a bit iffy, but ended delivering more than even the last few episodes of Season 5. Not the best season of the show, but pretty damn awesome.

Bronze: Damages => Finally caught up. Fantastic closure to the season, better than season 1 for sure. Lots of great acting, dialoug. This show has probably the highest quality scripts of all the contenders.

4: Prison Break => Dodgy season at parts, but the middle part and the last few episodes with Final Break really had me. Overall, a great good bye.

5: Fringe => The best newcomer. Sometimes overly formulaic, but still an excellent debut season with a really exciting overall storyline that just gets better and better every time they get to it.

6: Supernatural => Not the show's best season, but still very good. The premiere episode simply set the bar too high, in my opinion. The finale was disappointingly predictable.

Best Comedy:

Winner: 30 Rock => Not much to say, really. Weaker than S2, probably on par with S1. Had some forgettable episodes, but Alec Baldwin still is able to carry this show all alone.

Silver: Chuck => I very much preferred season 1, but I liked this season alot too. Good mindless fun and really one of the two shows that didn't disappoint this year on the comedy front.

Most Disappointing Drama:

The Biggest Loser: 24 => The writers had over a year to work out S7, but they clearly struggled, as there was barely any excitement in this season. Better than S6 as far as writing and consistency goes, but that isn't say much. This show was once in my top 3, and now... after S6 and 7... barely in my top 10.

2nd: Heroes => Once again, they had alot of time to work out S3, due to the short second season which received very negative responses. But, in my opinion, S2 was better. The season just fell apart halfway into the Villains volume. "Fugitives" had a better narrative, but was often extremely boring, and the finale was just a cop out. Probably the worst show of the season (from what I watched), but I expected it, unlike with 24, so, yeah.

3rd: Dexter => The first two seasons set a very high standard, and in my opinion, the 3rd season didn't even come close. The new showrunner is to blame, I guess. Or, just me. Cuz, I know alot of people who loved this season as much as the first two. Oh well. 4th: House => The show jumped the shark in season 3 when House fired Cameron, Foreman and Chase. That's all.

Most Disappointing Comedy:

The Biggest Loser: The Office => The Office simply isn't funny anymore. Michael is way too dumb, Dwight is tiring, and the rest of the characters are just meh. Dunno what went wrong here.

2nd: How I Met Your Mother => zzzzz

Everything else, 3rd => Almost all comedies were disappointing this season. Big Bang Theory, 2 and a Half Men, etc. Would be tiring to list them all.

Best Actor:

Winner: Terry O'Quinn => watch "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" and you'll realize why he's probably the best actor on TV right now. Simply amazing.

Silver: Jimmy Smits => The Man who stole the show from Dexter. As I said, renaming season 3 to "Miguel" would've been much better. Bronze: Michael Chiklis => The ultimate badass on TV, but that doesn't mean he fails in dramatic scenes. Hell no. He sported some of the most natural and raw acting I've ever seen in the series finale of The Shield.

4th: Matthew Fox => I know alot of people hated him in the first 3 seasons of Lost, but... dunno. I always liked him alot, and his character, Jack. But in s4/s5, he finally "cracked", and became someone else. Someone incredible interesting. And Fox portrays the new Jack flawlessly. The new John Locke.

5th: William Fichtner => A bit disappointed that he didn't get much to do after S2 of PB. But this season at least he was featured more than in S3. The reason he is on this list is the episode where he revenged his son's death. Nuf said.

6th: Kiefer Sutherland => Kiefer's great, and he portrays TV's best action star, Mr. Bauer perfectly. However, this season, probably due to the scripts though, he was just rolling along. Nothing breathetaking, exciting, or anything like that. But still, very good.

Best Actress:

Winner: Glenn Close => The best female character on TV, hands down. And Glenn Close does a fantastic job at portraying her. . Silver: Elizabeth Mitchell => A bit similiar to Alex Mahone(Bill Fichnter), really. In her debut season she was probably even cooler than Michael Emerson. But she was terribly underused in S4, and really just barely utilized in S5. However, even that small scene in the S5 finale was enough to put her in this position.

+Bonus: CCH Pounder => Avi pointed out her abscence, and he's right. CCH is a great actress and done a superb job in the final season of the Shield. The reason I forgot about her is simply because I don't like her character that much, but I gotta admit, the actress' fantastic.

The rest: Yeah, my problem with female characters is that the writers are not good at writing for them. Most are stuck in romantic storylines or just serving as a plot device. Shamefully. Best Episode:

Winner: Lost - The Incident => Not much to say. This was the biggest game changer of Lost yet, giving us a whole new perspective of the entire show. . Silver: Lost - 316 => This episode is not that popular among fans. It's highly rated, but not top tier. But for me, this episode, it just never gets old. Jack's personal journey to accepting that Locke was right, taking a leap of faith, was simply some of the best character stories Lost gave us. Not to mention the amazing plane scenes and how all the holes in the plot have been filled by now. It's just an epic episode.

Bronze: The Shield - Family Meeting => The ending of The Shield was never really a big question. The police department will find out about his and the STrike Team's dirty stuff, and then etiher kill him off, or stick him behind bars. But, this finale was something else. Something much better. Kudos.

4th: Damages - Trust Me => Just as I predicted, this episode would be pretty high on my list, even before i actually watched it. A perfect conclusion to season 2 in a breakneck pace with lots of twists that left me wanting more. 5th: Lost - The Variable => I think there's an overflow of a certain show's episodes here... LOL. But what can I do. Just look at this masterpiece. Variable not only gave us some really cool answers regarding the island, but also gave us an excellent character episode, that concluded with the most shocking death of the TV season. RIP, Dan.

6th: Prison Break - Final Break => I don't care what people say, I loved this. Very nostalgic and gave us a superb conclusion on the main main-characters' fate. Finally free.

7th: Fringe - Bad Dreams => You know the kind of episode that starts, gets you pumped in a minute or two, and then immerses you in a way that you even forget to blink, and once it ends, you feel that it has only been 10 minutes? Well, Bad Dreams is an episode like that. Extreme thrill ride with superb plot developments.

8th: Supernatural - Lazarus Rising => The 4th season premiere of SPN was probably the best season premiere of this TV season, introducing a whole new chapter in the SPN saga. .

9th: Prison Break - Selfless => How many times have you thought "Okay, now PB could basically end, because they solved everything!" Well... this is another episode like that. Except, you know, there's that final 5 minutes. Always the final 5 minutes....

10th: Fringe - Ability => Much like Lost's "incident" Ability made us re-comprehend the entire show. Very well done.

11th: 24 - The White House stuff => The only two episodes that truly stood out this season for me. Superb action, fast pacing, lots of Jack and a great villain. Oh, how great. Should've lived longer!

Best Character:

Winner: John Locke => Hands down, the winner. Daniel Faraday was a tragic character? Well, look at this man. The ultimate puppet on a string. Silver: Miguel Prado => So, of course he ranks pretty high. Afterall, he was the star of "Miguel". Great show indeed!

Bronze: Jack Shephard => Jack became a janitor and a man of faith. Can't decide which is cooler.

4th: Dean Winchester => Yeah, I too, got bored of his whining towards the end of the season, but lets face it. Other than a few scenes, he carried the entire season alone!. 5th: Michael Scofield => Mr. Scofield, similiarly to Mr. Burrows, might just have one facial expression overall, but still. His journey to freedom was THE storyline to love in S4 of PB.

--

Sorry for formatting errors, but i cant fix it. Tv.com just blends certain lines together.
Posted by JBentham, 06/05/2009 1:05am
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Best of 2008/09 fall TV season (nominees)

The results will be posted in a few days, as I'm not fully caught up on some shows (Damages, 30 Rock) but I'm very close. The results will be ranked, so nobody gets left out

Best Drama series:

- Lost
- Fringe
- Prison Break
- Damages
- Supernatural
- The Shield

Best Comedy series:

- Chuck
- 30 Rock

Most Disappointing Drama series:

- 24
- Heroes
- House
- Dexter

Most Disappointing Comedy series:

- How I Met Your Mother
- The Office

Best Actor:

- Terry O'Quinn (Lost)
- Matthew Fox (Lost)
- Kiefer Sutherland (24)
- William Fichtner (Prison Break)
- Jimmy Smits (Dexter).
- Michael Chiklis (The Shield)

Best Actress:

- Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost)
- Glenn Close (Damages)
[yeah, there are barely any note worthy female characters on TV, at least from what I watch...]

Best Episode:

- Lost; The Incident
- Lost; The Variable
- Lost; 316

- Prison Break; Selfless
- Prison Break; The Final Break

- 24; Day 7, 7:00 - 8:00 PM
- 24; Day 7, 8:00 - 9:00 PM

- Supernatural; Lazarus Rising

- Fringe; Ability
- Fringe; Bad Dreams - Damages; (? - not finished yet, but i've feeling there'll be at least one entry)

- The Shield; Family Meeting

Best Character (of the season):

- John Locke (Terry O'Quinn)
- Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox)
- Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller)
- Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles)
- Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits)
Posted by JBentham, 05/30/2009 9:39am
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Prison Break: The Final Break

This standalone movie absolutely blew the 2 previous seasons away - Each moment was riveting, suspensful, with a huge emotional bomb dropped in the last couple of minutes. Overall, it was everything you'd except from a great show's last rollercoaster ride. Spoilers.



I liked the series finale, but I wasn't blown away by it. I never denied it, I don't like the Scylla plot that much, and the finale dealt with that, apart from the last few minutes, which I loved very much.

And then came along this standalone movie, and damn. Much better than the finale. Simply put, this movie had everything that defined Prison Break in it's golden days: fantastic character interactions(with no character inconsistency), suspense with no illogical twists, somewhat belivable premise, and.... well, the prison enviorment!

How much I missed it, god. During season 3 the producers said there might be a spinoff called Prison Break: Cherry Hill which would revolve around a women's prison. The idea was dropped, but the writers got to try out their concept here, and I have to say, it was great, and very well executed. Also... I found Sara's character to be just ok, and in the later seasons pretty useless, but here, well, she was one of my favorites. The writers managed to finally give her some good material to work with.

The best part was without a doubt the ending. I think most of us believed that Michael died from the tumor, but no, he actually sacraficed himself, knowing about the tumor. Well.. let's just say it was heartbreaking, and from the moment of the sacrafice, it was hard to hold back the tears.

It was simply mesmerizing - a perfect way to wrap up the show. Much, much, much better than the series finale, as I said. Prison Break, after all, got the ending it deserved.
Posted by JBentham, 05/28/2009 11:09pm
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ABC upfronts - the best network in 2009/2010?

ABC shows have never really been that interesting to me, apart from of course my favorite show, which pretty much means ABC was my favorite network... err... yea, i know, weird logic.

Anyway... There are some promising things.

1. V



I unfortunately am gonna have a bad habit soon... check out all the shows with lost cast members... lol, unfortunately, the show is ending soon, so, yeah. It's hard to let go! Sooo, Elizabeth Mitchell. That's already promising enough, but this show actually looks really promising. A HIGH CONCEPT show, so no episodic stuff...

""V" is a re-imagining of the 1980's miniseries about the world's first encounter with an alien race in which the aliens call themselves The Visitors, and have a seemingly friendly agenda that may or may not be a cover for something more malevolent.

"V" stars Elizabeth Mitchell as Erica Evans, Morris Chestnut as Ryan Nichols, Joel Gretsch as Father Jack Landry, Lourdes Benedicto as Valerie Stevens, Logan Huffman as Tyler Evans, Laura Vandervoort as Lisa, with Morena Baccarin as Anna and Scott Wolf as Chad Decker."

More promo pics, episode stills:

http://multipleverses.com/2009/05/19/v-first-promo-photos-show-description/

2. Flash Forward



ABC is promoting this to be "new" Lost. Now I'm not so sure about that, in fact, I'm certain it will disappoint if one expects another show like Lost, but it can be pretty good. Much like V, it has a lost cast member in it, plus it's high concept.

"When a mysterious event causes the entire world to black out, humanity is given a glimpse into its near future, and every man, woman and child is forced to come to grips with whether their destinies can be avoided or fulfilled.

Adapting award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer's revolutionary novel, executive producers David S. Goyer (visionary co-writer of "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight") and Brannon Braga ("24," "Star Trek: Enterprise") invite you to embark on a journey to answer the question, "if you knew what your future held, what would you do?"

"Flash Forward" stars Joseph Fiennes as Mark Benford, John Cho as Demetri Noh, Jack Davenport as Lloyd Simcoe, Sonya Walger as Olivia Benford, Courtney B. Vance as Stan Wedeck, Brian O'Byrne as Aaron Stark, Christine Woods as Janis Hawk, Zachary Knighton as Bryce Varley and Peyton List as Nicole."

--------

These are two very interesting shows, and there are literally no other new TV shows that interest me. So, kudos to ABC for having a 100% success rate with me, lol. Also, ABC stated that both shows are planned to have 4 seasons, which is positive - seems like if the ratings are fine the writers will have room to plan out everything the way they want, like with Lost.

Although both are somewhat unoriginal(one's a remake, the other one's based on a book), I'm excited for them, hopefully there'll be a pilot leak soon.
Posted by JBentham, 05/19/2009 12:56pm
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