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Alias 4.0

Over a year ago when the 2003 TV season started, I blogged about Alias rebooting for the third time.

After sitting on my TiVo for over a week, I sat down and watched this season’s premiere and the current episode. We’re now on to Alias 4.0, another reboot to start the 4th season. I enjoy the show, but it’s getting harder to suspend my disbelief after all of the plot holes that open up every time they decide to start over.

This time, we find Sydney, Jack, Vaughn and Dixon have been transferred to a black ops division of the CIA. (The show can now just ignore the whole workings of the CIA). And guess who they’re working for – Sloan! We have now recreated SD-6, but sanctioned by the CIA now. By the end of the 2nd episode, Weiss & Marshall are working for them now.

I’ll give them some credit – continuing plot points are still there, with the tension between Sydney and Jack regarding her mother, Rombaldi, and Vaugh and Sydney’s romance. I’ll give it a try, but I’m at the end of the line. I’m all for watching a well done espionage with a beautiful heroine, but at least try and keep a plot for more than one season. I understand that people didn’t watch the show because they couldn’t follow the plot if they missed an episode or two, but dammit people, buy a TiVo. That’s my favorite part of shows like Alias & 24.

Go Go EFF!

The EFF is suing the FCC over the Broadcast Flag.

The brief argues that the FCC has no authority to regulate digital TV sets and other digital devices unless specifically instructed to do so by Congress. While the FCC does have jurisdiction over TV transmissions, transmissions are not at issue here. The broadcast flag limits the way digital material can be used after the broadcast has already been received. “Bowing to a group of copyright holders led by the MPAA, the FCC promulgated a rule drafted by those corporate interests that will dictate design aspects of a vast array of consumer electronics – televisions, DVD recorders, TiVos, digital VCRs, iPods, and cell phones – for years to come,” the brief reads.

ALA legislative counsel Miriam M. Nisbet said, “Two years ago Congress passed a law allowing for use of copyrighted works for distance education. Yet now the FCC through the broadcast flag would prevent schools from using an entire category of those works — high definition television programs — in distance education.”

Filing the brief along with EFF, PK, and the ALA were the Association of Research Libraries, American Association of Law Libraries, Medical Library Association, Special Libraries Association, Consumer Federation of America, and Consumers Union.

This is a great thing to see. and I’ll continue to publish other links that cover it, such as Boing Boing. Building a HDTV HTPC is a priority for me, along with getting the basement done. With pcHDTV’s out of stock on Linux HDTV cards, it will be interesting to see if I can get this done in time. I firmly believe the Broadcast Flag is an evil, evil thing. I want to record the shows I want to, when I want, without the government interfering.

Actions like this make me proud to be a Pioneer level member of the EFF.

Gatorade commercials

I dig the new Gatorade commercial “Thank You” – the tribue to Mia Hamm.

The Keith Jackson narrating the founding of Gatorade from a year or two ago rocked as well.

I need to find out who their ad agency is!

Jumping the Shark

I think Inside the Actor’s Studio has jumped the shark.

I have my TiVo set to record all of the new episodes, and the latest one with the cast of Will & Grace, was disappointing.

About 6 months ago, NBC bought out Bravo (as you can see from the re-airings of West Wing, Boomtown, and the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy partnership).

If NBC hadn’t bought Bravo, would we have seen the cast of Will & Grace on Inside the Actor’s Studio? Probably not. As one of the anchor’s for NBC’s Must See TV Thursday night, and soon to be “the” anchor with the demise of Friends after this season, I believe NBC used the Actor’s Studio to help position Will & Grace.

At the beginning of the show during the interviews, James Lipton even introduces the President of Bravo (and VP of NBC) who is sitting in the audience.

The show itself wasn’t bad – I might not care for Will & Grace, but with the 4 lead actors they also had the two main writers, and James Burroughs (director). It was interesting to hear them talk and James Burroughs is an icon himself, with his work on Taxi, and directing 75% of all Cheers episodes.

I can appreciate NBC flexing their marketing muscle. And I understand why they purchased Bravo. But I think it’s unfortunate that the one show that should have remained pure and free from marketing bias was affected.

(And I’m still waiting for the anniversary episode that Will Ferrell referred to on Dinner for Five on IFC – where Will Ferrell (as James Lipton) interviews James Lipton!)

Coupling – The Good and Bad

So I missed the news last month, but the BBC had a press release on Oct 14th that Coupling is coming back for a 4th season.

I never could make the transition from the (much better) BBC version to NBC’s version.

NBC’s version got the axe this week. Done. Caput. Over with. Oh well. The worst part about it is the perception problem that “Coupling’ is bad – when the BBC version is absolutely hilarious.

Oh, and the Season 2 DVD just came out. Must get.

Alias

So the 3rd season of Alias has started, and it’s now Alias v3.0. Let’s recap:

1st season: Sidney works for SD-6, where everyone thinks they’re a supersecret subset of the CIA. They’re actually terrorists.

2nd Season: Sidney, having become a double-agent for the CIA in Season One like her father, still works for SD6.

In January, having the post-Superbowl timeslot, Alias v2.0 comes out. SD-6 is dismantled, and Sidney now works for the CIA (still) as a regular agent, with her father, and now, her love interest / handler Vaughn.

Season Finale: Blow up Alias and start over for Season 3, v3.0. Sidney has a climatic battle with her former best friend (who had been replaced with a double), and at the end of the show wakes up and two years have gone by unknown to her, with Vaughn breaking the news to her. And he’s now married.

3rd Season (now 2 episodes in) Alias v3.0

Thoughts so far: I was pretty annoyed with blowing it up at the end of the second season, after they had just done it. Said I’d give it one more change. (Ok, be real, who can’t watch Jennifer Garner?) I agree with critics / ratings that the show was too serial and hard for new people to jump into who hadn’t seen it before. The show still has that challenge, in my opinion. But it is a little less action oriented so far.

Things that irk me:

  1. After being gone for 2 years, not only is Sydney an agent again, but she’s already out in the field. (I know, her mystery is central to the plot again).

  2. In the first episode this season, she goes rogue and gets the item the CIA wants. She uses this to get her father out of false imprisonment he’s been in for a year since she was gone.

  3. Her father is a senior agent again already. After being gone for a year in lockup.

  4. Another love triangle. Last year, it was Will and Vaughn. Will is now in the Witness Protection Program (good excuse since he’s not on the show anymore I suppose). Now it’s Sydney, Vaughn, Vaughn’s new wife (who is the NSC liasion to the CIA in their office). Oh, and Vaughn had left to be a French teacher. He’s back in the CIA now. And saved Sydney on the second episode.

Overall, it’s a well-written, tight show. I just wish they’d stick with a plot line. But I do understand that as good as it is, it hasn’t pulled in the amount of viewers ABC has hoped for. Let’s hope this formula works (this time).

BBC – Dr. Who & Coupling

So the good news: The Daily Telegraph is reporting that the BBC is bringing back Dr. Who. That’s great news. It will be interesting to see if they use any CGI in it now – and let the debate begin on who the next Doctor will be.

And the bad news: Tried to watch Coupling last night. I lasted 5 minutes. It’s hard enough to get past the look of the actors being different from the BBC Coupling. The lines are the same – but they are delivered in such a different way.

I was impressed with the look of the set, very true to the original series. But the guy playing Jeff – one of the best things about the original Coupling is Jeff, not only the way he looks, but his quirkiness just seemed to be zapped out of him by the NBC version.

Ah well. Just can’t adapt to the change, I guess.

Oops, I did it again

Did anyone besides me watch the NFL preseason show tonight on ABC?

Britney Spears had to do the worst lip-syncing I’ve ever seen. At one point, she is trying to put the mic on a mic stand while putting a glove on her hand. Her voice / inflection never changed as her head moved back and forth from the mic.

She really looked like she wasn’t even trying. And at the end when she thanked the crowd, there was an almost noticeable pop from turning the mic on.

V: The Second Generation

One of my favorite miniseries from when I was a kid, V: The Original Miniseries has been in the news. Kenneth Johnson, the original writer / director has struck a deal with NBC to make a new 3 hour movie bringing V back.

Taking place 20 years in the future, mankind is still fighting the Visitors when a new ally shows up to help the humans win.

Too bad it’s not a mini-series. I bought V and V:Final Battle when they came out on DVD last year. Of course it wasn’t as good as I remembered it, but considering the first one was in 1983, it’s suprising how well it did hold up. I more than enjoyed watching it on DVD, especially without commercials, and the quality was really good.

We’ll see how good the new one is. :)