Reruns on Cable
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24
Day 4: 3 a.m. - 4 a.m.
Day 4: 2 a.m. - 3 a.m., 05/02/05
State of the Show
Top Ten #8
Season In Review
3rd season in review
Day 3: 12:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m., 02/03/04
Day 2: 6:00 A.M.-8:00 A.M. (Season Finale), 05/13 & 20/03
TV Guide review
Day 2: 5:00 A.M.-6:00 A.M., 05/06/03
FOX
Day 2: 4:00 A.M.-5:00 A.M., 04/29/03
Day 2, 5am to 6am, 5/6/03
Day 2: 3:00 A.M.-4:00 A.M., 04/22/03
Day 2: 2:00 A.M.-3:00 A.M., 04/15/03
Day 2: 12:00 Midnight-2:00 A.M., 04/01/03 & 04/08/03
Day 2: 11:00 P.M.-12:00 Midnight, 03/25/03
Day 2: 10:00 P.M.-11:00 P.M., 03/04/03
Day 2: 10pm to 11pm, 3/4/03
Day 2: 9:00 P.M.-10:00 P.M., 02/25/03
Day2: 7:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M., 02/11&18/03
Day 2: 6:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M., 02/04/03
Day 2: 5:00 P.M.-6:00 P.M., 01/14/03
Day 2: 5pm to 6pm, 1/14/03
Day 2, 4pm to 5pm, 1/7/03
Day 2: 5pm to 6pm, 1/14/03
Day 2: 4:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M., 01/07/03
Day 2: 3:00 P.M.-4:00 P.M., 12/17/02
Day 2: 2:00 P.M.-3:00 P.M., 12/10/02
Day 2: 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, 12/17/02
Day 2: 1:00 P.M.-2:00 P.M., 12/03/02
Holiday Meanderings Part II, Tuesday
Day 2: 12:00 Noon-1:00 P.M., 11/26/02
Day 2: 11:00 A.M.-12:00 Noon, 11/19/02
Day 2: 10:00 A.M.-11:00 A.M., 11/12/02
Day 2: 9:00 A.M.-10:00 A.M., 11/05/02
Day 2: 8 am to 9 am, 10/29/02
Day 2: 8:00 A.M.-9:00 A.M., 10/29/02
Previews!
Tuesday Nights
Whining Part III, Tuesday
Matt's Awards
11:00 pm to Midnight (Air Date 05/21/02)
10:00 pm to 11:00 pm (Air Date 5/14/02)
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24: Day 4: 3 a.m. - 4 a.m.
Tuesday 05.10.2005
MattM || 02:41 PM
This show was cooking there for awhile but suddenly the cougar baiting has been in force for the last 2 episodes. Granted the personality disorder crack was way overdue for Chloe but still the last two episodes have just been out there in the boardering on dumb. So let me get this straight. The Chinese consulate jumped in front of a hail bullets just so we could have WWIII? And gee look that mask just happened to come off what did he have bad elastic on it? Washed it too many times? Sincerly if your going to raid a Chinese embassy get a quality mask!!! Then there were the two weirdest moments in the whole episode. First Jack saying he is not alright. Well gee you were just fine after your wife was killed, you chop off your partners hand and about a gadzillion other things and now your not all right? Well DUH! I think the whole show is building to a season of Jack in the Nut house. First the quiet crying then admitting he is not ok. I figure next season he'll just go postal and blow up CTU. If that wasn't weird enough then there was Chloe offering Jack a sympathic ear. Then the whole president thing...maybe he'll join Jack in the nut house. I really hope they snap too and get it together fast because this whole season now suddenly has the that going down the drain feeling to it.
24: Day 4: 2 a.m. - 3 a.m., 05/02/05
Saturday 05.07.2005
MattM || 01:25 AM
I almost thought we were going to go through a whole season of no cougar baiting. Once again I was proven wrong. The whole thing about the consulate being shot (hello shooting guns not a good idea to stand in front of) was bad enough. Then to compound that whole situtation with the killing of Paul by Jack. Again I can accept certain levels of reality but that was just so far over the top. That was stupid, unneccessary, and useless to do that will do nothing but detract from the season because you just know now that Audrey is going to have to do something to Jack now and that something will hurt the investagation (surely Jack can't arrested 3x in a year can he?). *Sigh* This coming off a great episode of when Sniveling Whiney Cloe's get a gun. This doesn't even take into the account the sudden character change in Buchanon to suddenly lose his mind in some sort of jealous fit at Tony. That was totally out of character which means its either cougar baiting (probable) or he's somehow one of the bad guys.
On a separate issue is the rumor that 24 maybe moving to NBC. Ignoring for a minute that FOX would never let this happen mostly because its one of their biggest shows and also that its made by FOX studios, I really do hope it happens. I would love to have no reason to watch FOX EVER. After the massive debacles of good show after good show after good show after good show cancellations and the topper being the Tru Calling treatment I am down to just one FOX show. So you go NBC get that show so I never have to watch FOX.
24: State of the Show
Tuesday 05.03.2005
MattM || 08:27 AM
Heading into May sweeps this show continues to be one of the best shows on TV. Despite the cougar baiting debacles of season 2 (can we just pretend that year didn't exist) the last two years have been as good as the first. Granted this show doesn't deal in reality too much but for pure action and adventure this show is top notch. Still the best thing about this show this year has been a slight reality check. You know its a reality check when people are demanding raises in the middle of terrorist attack. THAT'S REALITY. Torture my ass and I want a raise!!! Also they have taken the other truely real character in the annoying whiney ultra confident Chloe and given her a gun. Got to love that. My only real gripe is that that they promised us they were nuking the cast yet everyone but Kim has shown up.....oh god I feel cougars coming on.
24: Top Ten #8
Monday 11.08.2004
MattM || 05:23 PM
I am still not sure what to expect from this series. An excellent first year followed by a bad second year followed by an excellent third year followed by firing everyone that moved and hiring Kim Raver. Not exactly a confidence inspiring move but a gutsy one none the less. I am interested to see if Kim Raver is just a bad actor or bad writing on Third Watch. Still when this show is on its game it is one of the most intense shows on TV. At least we don't have Kim playing cougar bait this year for sure.
24: Season In Review
Thursday 06.24.2004
MattM || 10:37 AM
First let me start by saying this season was a major major major improvement over the train wreck of season 2. That being said it was no season 1 either. The first season was a green the second was a red and the third is a yellow. I don't know where they go in Season 4. Perhaps contuing the day into day 2? Skip ahead with a new President? I do like the direction they took with a few characters so I have some hope.
First I will start with the bad parts of the season. The first gripe I have is Jack's "Drug Problem" which by all acounts was magically cured with a pill. If your going to have do that then you need to have it haunt him the whole season not just magically go away. THEY HAD the chance to rectify this at the season finale when he was crying in his car. Perhaps then would have been a good time to have him either get high or get very close to getting high. Maybe us seeing him check himself into a clinic perhaps? No apparently drug addiction can be cured with a magic pill. The next gripe is that baby. That was completly unnecessary plot element and made just no real sense at all. Why couldn't it just be Kim and him? He could give up his career realizing he loves Kim. The baby was stupid and silly. Also the season finale made me wonder did this make a tougher day then the one he had in season 1? I mean he had to execute someone and chop a friends arm off hey I think this is really his toughest day ever!! The next gripe I have is Tony. Now they have a chance to rectify this by NOT bringing him back next season unless its in jail where he belongs. If they bring him back and everything is just peachy this show is in the tank. I hated the Tony story line but if your going to do it put him in jail and don't bring him back to the show. Also when you have someone's as major as Saunders surronded wouldn't it have behooved the police surrounding the place to double check the order? No wait that makes too much sense. Its sort of like the Angel episode in season one where he is chasing his protege and the police look at Lockwood and say we have the building surrounded. Yet there is Angel on the side of the building with no police around. Apparenly surrounded in TV world means 3 out of 4 sides. Now my two biggest gripes and the two things that made me want to chunk the remote at the TV. The whole Sherry plotline was really stupid but I guess it was meant to pave the way for Palmer to eventually be out of the show or very limited in the show. Still none of that compared to Saunders being shot. I almost fell out of my chair laughing at the sheer STUPIDITY of that. Like we didn't know that was coming. Like that was totally realistic or anything. My god REALLY now oh yea lets have the widow victim get near her husband murder and FORGET she might have a gun. Where did that gun come from? What they didn't take his gun out of his office? He was running around unarmed? Or did they just forget to do a security check during a high alert? I don't know so many idiotic things wrong with that whole scene I could write a book. The only reason for it was to chop Chase's arm off. THE ONLY REASON.
Now the good news. There was alot to like about this show this year. I liked the new Kim instead of the Cougar Bait Kim even if they replaced her with the equally annoying Chloe. I do like the fact that we are seeing the toll this takes on Jack. I think the plot line was VERY strong. There is much to like about this show. I just wish it would gain some constancy. I liked Chase strugging with the demends of being an agent and realizing that isn't the life for him. I really like how this show takes worthless jerks politcal people to the core but in the end even they can be heros. Executing Chapelle was one the lasting images of the year. Much as last year's Without a Trace ending that scene will forever stick with me. Also kudos to them for killing off Nina and Sherry. Thank god those two won't be back. Also major kudos to having the guts to not bring back Tony and Michelle that is the saving grace to that awful story line. Not bringing back Chase and limiting Kim is probably also the right thing to do. We turned her character around and there really isn't much more you can do to her. I get the feeling that next season is going to be Jack centric with not much else. The secondary plot line might be Palmer leaving office. Still you just know there has to be more to Saunders then this so thats where I think season 4 is. The next day or at least not every long after.
Overall this was a very average season. Alot of things I liked but also alot were done poorly or in such soap opera fashion that I thought I had mistaken tuned into Days of our Lives. Still it was better then season 2.
24: 3rd season in review
Sunday 05.30.2004
alice ttlg || 09:27 PM
Wow, what an amazing season! After the awfulness of the second season (who can ever forget rooting for the couger to eat Kim?), I had no intention of watching it anymore but then one Tuesday in October, there wasn't much else on so I turned it on...
It started off pretty well and then it just kept getting better! Little things like Kim getting the tables turned by having to take care of a real whiny baby and a new character to hiss at with Chloe, the passive/aggressive self righteous (I'm only doing what's right!) gossipy office b*tch (haven't we all known one of these?) And some lighter character development in finding out Tony and Michelle had gotten married (they make such a pretty couple!) and seeing Kim turn out to be a stand up hard working member of the team.
And Jack Bauer just got darker and darker. In the beginning of season two, we saw him march in to CTU and blow a guy's head off with barely a glance let alone a blink of an eye. But that was a bad guy he shot, this season went a step further, asking him to kill a co-worker in the name of saving lives and threatening to expose an innocent college girl to a deadly virus just to make the bad guy talk. And you knew he'd do it, he didn't hesitate.
He just kept going too, kept walking down that path, kept doing what needed to be done until the end. I had been wondering, even since he had to shoot Chappelle, how they would handle this, if they'd show any repercussions for Jack, how he'd deal with what he'd had to do, or even if they'd be able to show it, constrained within the 24 hour day as they are. But they did, they pulled off a slam bang finish and then Kiefer Sutherland turned in an amazing performance, conveying a marvelous depth of wretchedness for several minutes - until, as usual, Jack's cellphone rang and called him back to business as usual (poor guy, he really needs to find that Off button!) Not only was it good to see that result, it also helped to wind down the season, after the continuous buildup of finding and stopping the virus, we, the viewers, needed to take that deep breath too, absorb all that had happened before saying goodbye till the fall.
And then there's Sherry Palmer. My god, I literally screamed at the television when Julia pointed the gun at her, "SHOOT HER, SHOOT HER!" I'm amazed the neighbors didn't call the police! And then I danced for joy when Julia did shoot her and I knew that then she'd kill herself too.
Aside from that moment in the 2nd to last ep of the season tho, the whole plot line involving Sherry was a complete and total waste of time! I can understand they wanted a secondary plot line and I'm sure that Palmer leaving office will play into the fourth season but couldn't they have figured out something better than that wretched thing??? It was bad enough bringing Sherry back last season, it worked mostly even tho I didn't care for her but I groaned so loudly at the TV when she first showed up in the third season, enough already! Thank goodness she's dead and can't come back for a fourth season!
But all in all, a definite improvement over the 2nd season, this last season was much more like the first. Perhaps 24 is the opposite of the Star Trek movies, it was the even numbered ST movies that were good, perhaps it's the odd numbered seasons of 24 that will be good...
For the fourth season, pink slips have already been handed out to Tony and Michelle so no more of them and Chase is also gone with Kim making only guest appearances. Nina Myers and Ryan Chappelle are also gone, along with George Mason in the second season, which means that most of the original CTU team from the first season is gone now. It'll be interesting to see the setup in the fourth season.
Speaking of the fourth season, it won't be starting until January 2005 which means that with 24 eps, the show will run till the second week of June. The finale won't take place during May sweeps as most shows do. Personally I like having it air week after week with no breaks, something I count on to watch each week instead of wondering if it'll be on or not.
24: Day 3: 12:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m., 02/03/04
Tuesday 02.17.2004
MattM || 02:16 PM
Another solid episode in a nice bounce back season.....except for Sherry and Nina. I really wish they would both just die and go away. I am so sick of the Sherry and Nina keep popping up. They are like roachs glowing after the nuclear bomb. Wayne Palmer was fine replacement for Sherry why bring her back? This season would be much better if they had just kept them both away. The only saving grace at this point is that both must die at seasons end. I can't take a 4th season with those 2 still around. Kim at least isn't playing cougar bait anymore but the baby plot line (even if it gets Kim back a litttle for her 2 seasons of stupidity) is just dumb and pointless but somehow I think this will be tied together at some point.
24: Day 2: 6:00 A.M.-8:00 A.M. (Season Finale), 05/13 & 20/03
Friday 05.30.2003
MattM || 05:27 PM
These last two episodes were probably some of the best episodes all year. If nothing else because at least this god awful season is over. I guess now he can have back to back worst days of his life and I guess future presidents won't be shaking any more hands!! I think the whole ending was a bit cheesy and too quick. I think they wasted so much time with dumb Kim stuff that they short changed the Jack plot line. How is Jack going to do anything if his heart is messed up anyway? Also the Secert Service portrayal in the end was totally in the land of make believe and you couldn't even suspend disbelief because they were the unsecert service and ugh ok enough of my breath. FOX is a piece of crap network and I had wondered why they kept a good show at the end of last season but now I know why. They took one look at season 2 and saw how bad it and 3rd season would suck. So I am crossing this god awful show off my list unless they announce that Kim is getting eaten by a cougar.
24: TV Guide review
Tuesday 05.20.2003
alice ttlg || 10:35 AM
Swiped this from TVGuide.com because it'll be gone tomorrow, but it's so hilarious and dead-on about the problems with 24 this year, I had to save it!
While the reviewer does seem to have a higher overall opinion than I've had of this season, I totally agree with his comments about last week's ep, 6am to 7am and about Kim's role all season long (and all his negative comments :)). I especially loved this bit:
...there be spoilers below...
So, the wounded Hewitt stumbled off a ledge to his eventual death, a lengthy but necessary process, as was the preceding Pursuit Through the Darkened Dilapidated Building, aka, The Chase on the Warehouse Scaffold or The Rooftop Hop. Necessary because the show is not called "23".
ROTFLMAO!
So here, for your enjoyment (perhaps more enjoyment than this last season has provided?) is the full review...
From TVGuide.com
May 20, 2003
AS TIME GOES BY
24 (9 pm/ET, FOX)
Last week, 24's Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) warned nerdy computer baddie Alex Hewitt (Rick Wasserman) to put down the gun, or else. "I will have to shoot you back, and I promise I won't miss," Jack warned. When Hewitt took aim, Jack plugged him in the leg. "You shot me! You shot me!" exclaimed Hewitt, who then proceeded to fall off a roof, hit his head and die of that wound. On the heels of Jack being revived from the dead and daughter Calamity Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) lurching from one preposterous danger to another, here was one more example of the series not only occasionally straining credulity, but practically eviscerating it.
Hewitt failed to see the big picture. Thousands, if not millions, of lives were at stake. And he rejected a golden rule of action drama: good guys are good shots; bad guys are bad shots... even with automatic weapons. Remember last year's final shootout with the evil Victor Drazen (played in memorably hammy fashion, complete with shifting accent, by Dennis Hopper). All he could hit was the broadside of anything around Jack. So, the wounded Hewitt stumbled off a ledge to his eventual death, a lengthy but necessary process, as was the preceding Pursuit Through the Darkened Dilapidated Building, aka, The Chase on the Warehouse Scaffold or The Rooftop Hop. Necessary because the show is not called 23.
On the whole, this second edition of Mr. Bauer's Wild Ride has been a fairly satisfying one. But since the detonation of the bomb (in Episode 15), the roller-coaster ride has gone into a rather long, flat stretch, pending tonight's second-season finale. The presidential coup was too dignified. The tracking of the retaliatory planes — on a map — doesn't carry the same impact as the initial search for a nuclear device, which went off too early, but in fine fashion, as George Mason (Xander Berkeley) completed a 180-degree reversal of his moral character at the 11th hour (literally, since it exploded at 11 pm). And the next time someone says "Cypress audio," who among us won't scream? If the chip itself had had as much padding as its storyline, it wouldn't have been damaged. That darn chip went through almost as much as Kim.
Oh, pity poor Kim! She started as a nanny and ended up a self-defense killer. In between, she was a damsel in serial distress. There was her wife-killing boss; the stolen car and the discovery of the corpse in the trunk by the insensitive Highway Patrol; her daring escape and abandonment of her injured boyfriend; the smitten survivalist who gave her a gun, which she subsequently pointed at a rape-minded driver; the telephoned goodbye from her disaster-bound father; the convenience-store fiasco; and, lest we forget, the cougar, who, sadly to some, declined to make a meal of the young blonde caught in an animal trap. Kim's were not the season's finest moments, save, perhaps, for the shamelessly gratuitous Tank Top Hour (Episode 14, 9-10 pm). Her decisions, or lack of them, helped make Kim-bashing a popular season-long sport.
Granted, 24 requires a certain suspension of disbelief. L.A. denizens, for example, know that there's a vast difference between our local driving time and Jack's, no matter what the hour. But why nitpick? The aim is to be entertaining, and it certainly has been that. Stylishly performed, photographed and edited, the series has made thrilling use of the split-screen technique and real-time concept in piling cliffhanger upon cliffhanger. As elements converge for the final showdown, the nation's 60 minutes away from war, and the only guy who can stop it has a broken heart — literally — and is up the river without backup (yes, in L.A., that cement ditch Jack and Sherry crashed into is called a river).
Can Jack save the day? Well, he'll take a shot at it. And he's a good shot.
— Steve Robinson
24: Day 2: 5:00 A.M.-6:00 A.M., 05/06/03
Sunday 05.18.2003
MattM || 07:25 AM
The defining moment of the season for this series came with Kim. Kim to Dad: Hey Dad theres a murder on the floor next to me and the cop outside is dead what should I do?......Uh you STUPID BLONDE DITZ OF A DAUGHTER GET THE HELL OF OUT THE HOUSE. Oh my god what an unbelieveable bad scene. I thought the Damn it line from MDs was untoppable but 24 totally outdid that line by light years. I don't know if the rest of the episode was good or not but that whole scene leading up to shoot him shoot him again Kim was just so bad I was on the floor rolling with laughter. Oh in the realm things to not to do to advance your career uh Tony drugging Chappelle I hope you got that resume handy!!! This show was so good last year and is just so bad this year. I will give it a few watches next year but I don't think I can take much more of this comedy errr drama.
2003-2004 Season, 24, Bernie Mac, Boston Public, Dark Angel, Fastlane, Firefly, John Doe, Skin, Stan Hooper, Tru Calling: FOX
Thursday 05.15.2003
MattM || 11:26 PM
Click below to see my thoughts on the worst network on TV the network that in the last 2 years has cancelled more good TV then all networks combined.
RIP
Fastlane
Dark Angel
Girls Club
John Doe
Firefly
and thats just a small taste of the blood bath they have given us the last couple of years. I strongly suspect that Tru Calling no matter how good or bad is won't make it out of its first season or won't be back for a second at best. So click away !!
...there be spoilers below...
Monday
How do you when a FOX exec is lying? When his lips move. A few years back after the horrid Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire (aka I am a little Gold Digging Whore Show), FOX swore for all the world to see that they would clean up their act and become a better network for quality shows. YEA RIGHT. When Joe Millionaire was being pushed as a campy poke fun at the reality shows that was a one time thing you just knew that was a lie and big shock it was. So we get more Gold Digging Whores on Monday at 7 gee just what we need for all the little kids to see a fine example of "adults" composing their lives with diginity. FOX's new motto "Don't a believe a word we say!!" Skin follows Joe Millionaire (from whores to sluts?) which has some really solid actors and some good producers and writers on it. Still I put it at a yellow if it goes the way I think they are trying to go it could be a real campy funny good show (whats that sound its FOX getting ready to cancel oh no say the exec the horror of it all a good show on FOX??? NOOOOOOO). Still it could also be horrible to and I don't think theres middle ground here its either going to be a light green or a huge flaming red.Tuesday
The only show on Tuesday is the Would you like cheese with that Whine Kim? errrrr 24. I doubt I will stick around to watch this for toooo long because it was so bad this season and unless they shake things up considerably I don't see how they can make a good series out of this. It worked for one year but thats all it has worked for.Wednesday
This is sitcom night for FOX with a jumped the shark That 70s Show, a revamped after the show creator and head of the show left FOX but I still won't watch Bernie Mac, and an ok but not that interesting skit variety show Cedric The Entertainer. The new sitcom for the night is Norm MacDonald's A Minute With Stan Hooper which despite its positive vibe from test audiences looks awful. I will give it one watch and probably thats it but Norm MacDonald has never done a good sitcom.Thursday
In the realm of things that don't make sense wouldn't it have been a novel idea to put John Doe after Tru Calling??? It would have been a great alternative to all the other shows as a sci-Fi night oh wait that would require something FOX execs don't have a brain!!! Someone please send them off to see the Wizard they don't have brains, heart, or courage. Tru Calling I think might be good but its premise sounds shakey at best. Eliza Dusku is a first rate actress and I think she could pull this off still it seems to be a mutant blend of what my sister said: Ground Hog Day meets Early Edition with a little X-Files and Sixth Sense (I hear dead people not I see them) mixed in. It is followed by 90210 2003 errrrr The O.C.. Hey I got a joke what do you get when the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and 90210 have a baby? You get this garbage show called The O.C.Friday
The night leads off with Wanda in Charge a critical darling that will probably be cancelled again (see the no good shows on our network FOX policy). This is followed by Luis about Donut shop operater in Spainish Harlem....um ok then. This should comply perfectly with FOX's no good shows on our network policy. It is then followed by a formely good show now just total garbage as it has entered David Kelly's wasteland as all his shows do after one or two seasons (expecation to The Practice). Boston Public is for some reason still sticking around.Sunday
More sitcoms here. Malcolm In the Middle and its twin brother Oliver Beene are on here. Malcolm is a very good show or at least it was the few times I watched it but I just never could get into it. Simpsons and King of the Hill are also here but and are average fair. The two new shows are The Ortegas (isn't that a Taco company? How much did they pay for that title!!). Which is a hispanic family doing a british TV show yep another in complainance show. Also here is Arrested Development which also looks equally bad.[BARBARA MARTINEZ adds] SIGN THE PETITION MAYBE THE IDIOTS AT FOX MIGHT GET IT RIGHT AFTER SEEING ALL THE SIGNATURES http://www.petitiononline.com/Nikketti/petition-sign.html? (June 10, 2003 12:17 AM)
[gigohead adds] I actually liked A Minute with Stan Hooper. It started out kind of slow but it started to build and got even better and nuttier. Sorry you didn't give a chance. (May 25, 2004 02:31 PM)
24: Day 2: 4:00 A.M.-5:00 A.M., 04/29/03
Wednesday 05.07.2003
MattM || 12:10 AM
Well at least they sorta surprised me that the cabinet voted him out although now what??? How does Jack stop a conspiracy without anyone listening? Um ok I guess we have to wait and find out. Damn theres Kim again and I was hoping she had been eaten by cougars. Also Jack apparently is going barefoot and isn't amazing how he can walk on glass and not get a sliver??? Oh look Sherry is looking for the hacker too she couldn't possibly have anything to do with this plot could she??? nahhhhhhhhhh must be my overactive imagination again.
24: Day 2, 5am to 6am, 5/6/03
Tuesday 05.06.2003
alice ttlg || 09:08 PM
There's lots of things to like about this episode! I cringed when I saw the preview last week showing Jack yelling into a cellphone to Kim to shoot someone...
...there be spoilers below...
....but for ONCE, Kim did exactly as she was told, and actually not just once but twice!!! Cool!!!
And some of the right people are starting to end up dead or injured or at least unconcious, the nasty wife killer that Kim was nannying for, Mrs Palmer stabbed and hopefully dying and Chappelle on the floor and at least momentarily out of the way.
So this was a pretty decent episode!
24: Day 2: 3:00 A.M.-4:00 A.M., 04/22/03
Tuesday 04.29.2003
MattM || 11:37 PM
One word....PREDICTABLE. Who needed to watch this???? There wasn't one suprise in this entire episode except maybe Tony standing up to Carrie and diffusing the situation (although you know she's not done). Even with no Kim it seems the whole show is acting like her. Stupid, boring, and utterly predictable.
24: Day 2: 2:00 A.M.-3:00 A.M., 04/15/03
Thursday 04.24.2003
MattM || 11:59 PM
A whole episode and no Kim.....time to rejoice? Nope. They decided to do a Kim episode without Kim!!! God how stupid predictable and dumb was this episode. The whole thing about the brother was just idiotic ok so he's a moran great and shes a bitch we got that but then having Michelle go all sobby and kissing Tony and gee big shock the bitch sees them duh and now the big honchos are coming in and she ll make her play zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore God how stupid. Then Jack being captured and the foreign arab agent being a victim of racial hatred gee only saw that coming from 20 miles off. Then theres the Roe from STNG getting locked in a closet and she didn't bring a cell phone with her??????? Uh yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Stupid TV as Stupid TV does. If this show can't make a good episode without Kim stupid tricks then it is seriously seriously in trouble and time for me to mark this show as red. Yes I will watch but only on the hope it improves in 3rd season. The only thing and I mean the only thing redeeming about this episode is that seem to be making out the foriegn agent as a good guy and I hope he stays that way. Still the stupidest and I mean by far the stupidest thing in this whole horrible episode was Jack "dying" .....AGAIN. Ok once we got it great drama weeee it was fun but twice???? Oh COME ON!!!!!!!!!!! Duh he's not dead duh he's faking it so he can make his great escape and I don't even need to see the next episode to know that. I mean really now people can we get a little bit of interesting twists or something in here. Oh wait there was one other good thing hey look we got a constitional lesson in all this about the VP and majority of the cabinet I had forgotten about that rule.
24: Day 2: 12:00 Midnight-2:00 A.M., 04/01/03 & 04/08/03
Monday 04.21.2003
MattM || 01:55 PM
First off I am going to ignore Kim and her one legged ex b/f because all that is so bad and stupid its not worth typing about. The Palmer stuff was getting awfully close the Kim level of stupidity. Sicing the National Guard against rioters and being upset when an innocent gets killed. Who couldn't see that coming. The Jack stuff was pretty good but just really predictable. The micro chip inside him was well duh. The ambush. The bizairre Tony behavior and then more stuff between those girls. God this show was so good last year and now it seems more fit for Days of our Lives.
24: Day 2: 11:00 P.M.-12:00 Midnight, 03/25/03
Thursday 04.17.2003
MattM || 11:21 PM
Ok I really like the stuff that does not involve stupid Kim tricks. She has the guts to shoot a guys car who's threatening her but doesn't when her life is really on the line? Bleh STUPID. Why can't she be eaten by cougars or something. The Jack stuff was great......but really predictable. Gee theres the guy who headed up that elite unit big shock. The tape is fake. Big shock. The evil conspiracy against Palmer to make him start a horrific war on bad grounds is afoot big shock. Still it was done fairly well and set up the rest of the season....if only a cougar would eat Kim.
24: Day 2: 10:00 P.M.-11:00 P.M., 03/04/03
Saturday 03.22.2003
MattM || 07:30 AM
Ok then we have the two steps forward two steps back thing going on. After picking up the pace FINALLY they took a huge step back with this utterly predictable utterly inane episode. First we have Kim hitchhiking and finally getting a decent person only to walk out of the car because Daddie is dead. No wait Daddie isn't dead (although he might glow in the dark now) of course not because he gets saved by the redeemed loser George who in his last act of life saves LA (personally I think blowing up LA might be a good thing for this country wouldn't we be a better place with out the likes Sandra "Overrated" Bullock, Alec "I'm going to leave the country" Baldwin, etc etc). Then of course there was Palmer watching the bomb blow up that was just so over done. Well I guess we now get to find out who's really behind this (because we know its not those Arab countries).
24: Day 2: 10pm to 11pm, 3/4/03
Tuesday 03.04.2003
alice ttlg || 08:37 PM
Will they, won't they? I don't see how they can get out of this but I can't believe they'd actually....kill off Jack Bauer?!! Nah, never happen, somehow, some way, he'll get out of this, the bomb won't go off, it'll turn out to be a decoy and then we'll spend the next nine eps chasing down the real one with Palmer on his way to LA! Yep, that's it....now to watch the rest of this ep and see if I'm right.
ETA: Well, I was right, they aren't killing off Jack, although I think the out they're using is extremely implausible....
24: Day 2: 9:00 P.M.-10:00 P.M., 02/25/03
Saturday 03.01.2003
MattM || 06:53 AM
For the second striaght year the second 12 hours is a big improvement. One thing that gives me hope and makes me upgrade it to a weak yellow is the apparent move to focus more and more on Jack and CTU. This is the strong point. Ditzy Kim and Politics borrowed from As the World Turns (or whatever soap you want to insert here) kills this show. Palmer story line boring been there done that we know shes lying blah blah blah. Kim finds out what a dumb ass she is (again and again and again and again) lucky for her the guys just a total loser not a rapist. I really do like how they handled George and him putting Tony in charge even though I am sure Chapelle didn't appoint him but knowing that if Tony shines in this opportunity how can they demote the man who saved LA from a nuclear attack? Also interesting little lesbian sexual harressment going on between Paula's replacement and Michelle. Although I doubt she's a bad guy I do think she would have no problem in paying Michelle back for reporting her and getting her demoted (ok most of that is theory but if I doubt I am wrong). The Jack story line continued to be very good I did like how they broke Marie down very consistent with her character and I like the fact she didn't buckle she just isn't that smart. Still ok they found the bomb (we hope) and they killed someone but surely that wasn't the leader of that black ops unit. That was way to easy.
Lastly congrats to the show getting renewed for a 3rd season.
24: Day2: 7:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M., 02/11&18/03
Sunday 02.23.2003
MattM || 04:14 AM
Ok the whole Sherri in a hat and overcoat should have been shot in Black and White to top its utter stupidity. That scene was so bad I almost fell out off my bed laughing. I don't think I have seen anything that bad that was straight off All My Childern since M.D.s. Exactly at what point did Kim have a lobotomy? Because she is as stupid as they come. Look Kim static!! The only reason to watch this show is Jack Bauer THE ONLY REASON. Its a good plot line thats usually fairly well executed the rest of the show is a waste an totally complete waste.
24: Day 2: 6:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M., 02/04/03
Saturday 02.15.2003
MattM || 11:13 AM
Kim is caught in a trap with a cougar above her. HAHAHAHAHAHA GOOOOOO COUGAR GOOOO COUGAR GOOOOOOOOO COUGAR!!!! I couldn't be the that lucky though but I think a Kim being eaten by a cougar would make me give this series a green. Hell I ll invent a new rating if they do that. Oh yes that and watching an old man being tortured WOO HOO what a show they have here. Marie is the bright spot the little slut that she is!! Jack thinking he committed suicede how dumb is he ? Man what a waste of a show. I really hope next year it shows some life but if this keeps up I won't make it.
24: Day 2: 5:00 P.M.-6:00 P.M., 01/14/03
Saturday 01.25.2003
MattM || 12:09 PM
The bimbo strikes!!! hahaha Ok I loved this episode for the pure fact that Marie Warner the bimbo the helpless one isn't so helpless after all. As soon as she came in there all loving on him I knew she was bad and I loved that. Yes they do seem to be a lot of female villians but more power to them I love it. This was the first episode that I could actually stand all year. Yes Kim was still being dumb and yes Sherry was evil well we knew that but Marie was a great twist and strong enough to give this show a bump to Orange.
24: Day 2: 5pm to 6pm, 1/14/03
Wednesday 01.15.2003
alice ttlg || 05:38 PM
Ms. Never Had Any Brains (aka Kim) is at it again, listening to her equally dufus boyfriend, here, set something on fire in the back of this fast moving police car so we can crash and kill ourselves, then we won't have to worry about the bomb!
But look, it's Daniel Dae Kim from Crusade playing a CTU Swat guy, cool!
Okay, torture guy is just plain weird and rather ineffectual. He cuts her ear, basically just pierces it tho, not like he cuts it off or anything, what is this, Rodeo Drive torture school or something? She seems to be more afraid of what he *might* do than what he's actually doing. Weird, maybe it has something to do with censors and violence, I don't know.
But finally, TEN hours into this season, finally we're getting some sort of an interesting plot. I really want to know how Sherry Palmer is getting all this stuff, it's very suspicious that she has all these high level contacts with so much top secret access in the CIA and NSA. Senator's wives do not get this kind of stuff.
Ewwwww, okay, this is getting ridiculous again. And it's not even funny, it's just stupid ridiculous. Sheesh. The bad guys are all women. Nina, giving them all plans, Sherry as an inside agent, seeking to get Palmer into office so she could control him there and now worming her way back in to get back in control while taking Stanton out of play and Marie, the dumb blonde, playing her father and her fiance for the fall guys while she's the one who really worked with Arab terrorist guys.
I liked it better when it was funny ridiculous.
24: Day 2, 4pm to 5pm, 1/7/03
Wednesday 01.15.2003
alice ttlg || 02:07 PM
Miguel: That's like 100 miles (outside of LA).
Kim: She's gonna be okay. (speaking of little girl she looked after)
ROTFL! Kim has no idea how nuclear bombs work, does she? No idea how far the blast can reach, no idea how fallout blows all over the place. Did she flunk out of high school after her mother's death?
Nina: I want immunity.
President's COS: We've already given you immunity for everything.
Nina: This is for a crime I haven't committed yet.
President's COS: What crime?
Nina: The murder of Jack Bauer. (She's got him on his knees with his back to the wrong end of a machine gun)
ROTFL! Okay, this show is now officially a comedy. It's become so bizarre and off the wall, it's hysterical. And ohmigawd! That nose twitching by the President! ROTFL! I feel like I'm watching a twisted version of Bewitched!
President: (to Nina) You're not to take any action until we've put our hands on the bomb.
So now, he gets to spend X amount of time kneeling in a field while they go off and look for said bomb. LOL! I know there's no way that Nina will really kill Jack at this point, we still have another 15 hours to go but I can't help thinking the show might actually improve if she did kill him now.
24: Day 2: 5pm to 6pm, 1/14/03
Wednesday 01.15.2003
alice ttlg || 01:42 PM
I plopped in the tape for this ep and started watching only to realize as I saw the "previously on...", that I hadn't seen last week's ep. Now that I'm watching the 4pm to 5pm hour, I think I was better off watching the "previously on..." shorts! It hit all the important stuff and left out all the boring parts, all the whiney moany parts. So maybe I should just tape the first 5 minutes of each ep, watch the "previously on..." parts and then watch the last ep of the season. The show might actually be better that way, condense it all down to 23 shorts and one ep!
24: Day 2: 4:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M., 01/07/03
Tuesday 01.14.2003
MattM || 12:22 AM
I would stop watching this show about now but I continue to torture myself because this show might bounce back next season. I really have no comment on this show expect that it sucks its stupid blah blah been there done that said that.
24: Day 2: 3:00 P.M.-4:00 P.M., 12/17/02
Tuesday 12.31.2002
MattM || 12:58 PM
This wasn't as bad as other episodes um ok maybe it was I'm trying to be positive. Really it wasn't that bad until Kim was crying DADDIE TAKE ME OUT OF HERE while he's a few thousand feet up. That was inconsistent with her character. Then theres the reporter er I dunno about this I don't think Sherry did it that would be too predictable but still her seeing the light? Come one. I don't know its just all been there done that seen that and its boring. Who couldn't have seen the plane been shot down or sabatoge (I'm assuming) but then again in this show it probably just mechincal failure YEA RIGHT. This show was a freaking green !!!! Now its a red.
24: Day 2: 2:00 P.M.-3:00 P.M., 12/10/02
Friday 12.20.2002
MattM || 07:27 PM
You know I wish instead of killing off just his wife they should have killed both of them off. This whole Kim is going to jail (again) and is being set up by the evil employer (who is no doubt part of the nuke plot) is just way to remniscent of last year. Overall its so stupid. I mean who didn't see this coming. Then theres whole guess the traitor at White House game that they played last year at CTU. Last year it was new and novel but this year its just boring because they did this already.
24: Day 2: 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, 12/17/02
Tuesday 12.17.2002
alice ttlg || 08:26 PM
Why am I watching this show again? There's very little here that's interesting. Kim has gotten herself arrested again, Sherry Palmer is an evil person but we already knew that, so she's boring this season. It was far more interesting last year seeing her develop from ambitious but devoted wife into out and out villain. There's nothing new to do with her this year, rehabilitate her into a loving wife again? That's totally unbelievable. Make her a necessary evil? Blah, been done too many times in real life with real politicians, who cares. And the campaign manager is back. And the bombers! LOL at their flat tire and then (of course) some good samaritan american guy stops to help them. Sheesh.
I find myself in the same situation as last night watching Boston Public, there's just nothing much here to care about. I know that Jack will save the day so there's no suspense. I know that Kim will be fine and father and daughter will re-unite. As for the family with the daughter marrying the Arab guy, who cares, we haven't been shown anything about them to really care about. Either the dad will be the one working with the terrorists or the fiance will, I don't care which it is, tho.
Reruns of Smallville are far more interesting than this stuff.
24: Day 2: 1:00 P.M.-2:00 P.M., 12/03/02
Tuesday 12.10.2002
MattM || 03:35 PM
This show is degenerating into days of our lives. Kim saving the girl while her boyfriend beats up the bad man. The return of the evil wife. Nina and all that god this show just sucks now. Really enough is enough. Last year was good but seeing it all over again with 10,000 more soap operatic crap is bad. Not to mention the whole evil government conspiracy conspiring to overthrow Palmer. I mean come on enough is enough. This show needs an overhaul bad. It worked once but its not something that is going to work year after year after year.
2002-2003 Season, 24, Buffy, Frasier, Haunted, Hidden Hills, Judging Amy, Smallville: Holiday Meanderings Part II, Tuesday
Sunday 12.08.2002
alice ttlg || 10:35 PM
Tuesday
Sitcoms: In-Laws, Just Shoot Me, Frasier, Hidden Hills. I thought I'd hate In-Laws and love Hidden Hills but the opposite happened, Hidden Hills got mired down in the voiceover and baby boomer introspection while In-Laws used some great comedic actors and a more current (and toned down) version of All in the Family. Life with Bonnie was so awful I couldn't stand to watch it after one ep although I did catch two more eps in reruns on the Family Channel but they were even worse. Damn shame, Bonnie Hunt is a great comedian but she needs the right part, she's better as a straight man than a lead. And Just Shoot Me, I used to love this show but they lost me at the beginning of the season, threw in new characters and I lost track of what was going on and then lost interest, it's jumped the shark very quickly this year, tired writing, recycled jokes, yuck. Buffy, started off slow this year, the first half dozen eps didn't have much an emotional impact for me (reminded me of the beginning of 4th season, her first year at college) but the Spike stuff is terrific (and no, Matt, I'm not talking about Spuffy love! that is gone for good, I think) and the plot is picking up nicely now. There's been a few missteps tho, Willow's line about killing Anya was really jarring, considering her killing Warren last year and Buffy just took it as a normal thing to say but it was really out of place. 8pm blockbusters, 24, Guardian and Smallville: 24's been so-so this year, lots of repetition and Kim drove me nuts last year already so she's three times as annoying this year. She gets my award for "Character you most want to bash with a baseball bat". Guardian...this show had a wonderful edge last year, Nick's relationship with his dad really fueled the show and that's mostly resolved now so some of the edge is gone. I'm really glad they didn't have Lulu take the easy way out and get a divorce right away but her long-suffering attitude about her creep of a husband is getting annoying. Smallville, good but it's having a slow start, not as edgy as last year, there's been some good eps and I do like Chloe and Lana living together but they need to give us something. After the first season finale, I was expecting them to reveal something about where he comes from and we got absolutely nothing, they need to give us something, doesn't have to be big, but Something! Haunted, lived down to my expectations of being atrocious (my brother and I really differ on this one! :)) 9pm leftovers, Judging Amy and NYPD Blue, Judging Amy has been good, dealt realistically (well, up till the very end) with a stalker, NYPD Blue has done a complete 180 from last year, going from really great to really yucky, turning into Andy the bigot cop beating up on suspects while John stands around watching and the Andy/Connie thing still grosses me out.[MattM adds] In regards to Haunted you never gave it chance it started out rocky but really kicked into gear about the third or fourth episode. Judging the show from one or two episodes was meaningless because that was before the show found its gear. (December 9, 2002 12:12 AM)
24: Day 2: 12:00 Noon-1:00 P.M., 11/26/02
Monday 12.02.2002
MattM || 03:13 PM
Season 1 ? Season 2? Which is this look. Looks there Jack black mailing George hmm seems familiar !! Looks there Kim being stupid hmm seems famliar. Looks there someone I want to slap really bad hmmm seems famliar!! Well hands down Marie wins the award for the bitch you most want to slap this year. Hey your getting ready to marry someone who is being interogated by the government for known connections to terrorist what do you do? Blame your sister and uninvite her to your wedding. This series would have been great in season but in season 2 it just looks tired and retread. Now on top of the Nina is back. This show might sink to an orange unless it gives me something anything new.
24: Day 2: 11:00 A.M.-12:00 Noon, 11/19/02
Saturday 11.30.2002
MattM || 12:25 AM
So basically Nina has planned this all along um ok. Or what planned it from her jail cell and did it while she was out on bond or something. This series is just getting boring everything has been there and done that. I really wish they would show us something new. I think going back to the orginal format was a mistake in the end because now the show seems trapped into a box and a format that is so tightly constricted that everything is predictable and the same. I thought they would do something with that reporter but he has disappeared but I doubt the evil white house staffer has. I did like Jack and the Wahl's interaction in the panic room and how it played out but exactly what was Jack going to do? Arrest all three of them? I mean come on!! Now Darla er whatever her name is on this series is hurt with the secert code and now we will wake her anyone want to take bets that she can't remember? This series should be better and could be if it could just try something new.
24: Day 2: 10:00 A.M.-11:00 A.M., 11/12/02
Sunday 11.17.2002
MattM || 12:56 PM
This season is how season one should have been done. That being said this season is bad because they already did this same plot line. Oh great George Mason glows in the dark now he's going to be this heroic crusader now blah. Oh look Kimberly is in danger BIG SHOCK. Oh that woman is marrying a terrorist. BLah blah. This would be good IF THEY HADN"T ALREADY DONE IT LAST SEASON. That and I just can't buy Darlene er Sarah Gilbert heroically trying to save the data that just wasn't believeable. You know what would have made this season better? NO KIMBERLY. Totally downplay her and just focus on the investagation and Jack. Also how about making the investagation happen somewhere else. Are really going to play lets blow up LA every single year? This show is getting weaker in its second season as I feared it would.
24: Day 2: 9:00 A.M.-10:00 A.M., 11/05/02
Monday 11.11.2002
MattM || 11:52 PM
I am not sure if I am watching season one or season two because I can't really tell the difference. I understand theres a basic formula to follow but do they really have to make a carbon copy? The only reason why this season is better then last is that hasn't been so slow. Also if Jack was fairly sane in season 1, half nutso in season 2...um what happens next season? 24 hours in the funny farm? I also notice we no longer have any kind of intro to this like we did last year.
24: Day 2: 8 am to 9 am, 10/29/02
Tuesday 11.05.2002
alice ttlg || 03:53 PM
It was good, fairly predictable tho from all the previews, I knew that Palmer was President, I knew that Jack and Kim were estranged and I knew that Kim would be in danger from Jack's impassioned "Kim you have to get out of LA" cause I knew she'd never listen to that even if they weren't estranged (what teen listens to a parent and anyway, if she did, we'd lose half the plot for the whole season :)). So it was mostly what I expected, no big surprises, except for when he shot the witness, I liked that part tho, showed a much harder Jack, more on the edge, slightly nutso. Last season, he was still working within the system mostly, still wanting Mason and everyone else to work with him, he spent time persuading them to follow his course of action. This season, it's much more a loner Jack, not telling anyone what he's doing, just making demands and going off to do what he thinks is right.
So now that we've seen the setup, it's off to see where it goes, although I still prefer to watch this show three or four eps at one time, less cliffhangers and more of the story all at once. Seeing each ep each week as it airs tends to make it drag out too much for me.
24: Day 2: 8:00 A.M.-9:00 A.M., 10/29/02
Monday 11.04.2002
MattM || 08:10 AM
I am not sure, is this a rerun of season 1? Hmm Kim is working with the bad guy and in trouble again (someone take that curse off her please), Jack and Mason are at each others' throats, and Palmer has an enemy within. Ok, it's nice to see Darlene and Ensign Ro get some work but still, have we run out of ideas already? Is this how it is going to be every year? Or we just going to kill Kim off for the fun of it. Jack is already gone half insane, why not make him fully insane and make season 3 24 hours in the nut house. Maybe some evil doctor is doing experiments there. I mean come on, can't they do a little orginality? I truly hope that most of this is a sucker ploy in some ways and they are going to give us something new but if they go in the direction they are now, this show is headed for a bad year.
24: Previews!
Wednesday 10.16.2002
alice ttlg || 12:22 PM
Bouncebouncebounce! Oooooh, Jack all scruffy and looking rough! I like this, I'm getting excited about 24's premiere now!
2002-2003 Season, 24, 8 Simple Rules, Buffy, Haunted, Hidden Hills, Smallville: Tuesday Nights
Monday 09.09.2002
MattM || 05:19 AM
I am renaming this lemming night. You know, if one lemming goes over the cliff so does the other 100 or so. A total of 5 sitcoms debut on this night and who wants to take a bet that only 1 of them survives. The lonely drama debuts on UPN after Buffy, Haunted aka I see dead people, looks mediocre at best. A P.I. nearly dies and now he sees things. Party of Five alum Matt Fox stars in this and I will probably watch it once and laugh and turn it off. The 5 sitcoms are mostly laughable in the sense that they look so bad. Starting with 8 Simple Rules and the tired concept of two teen daughters and one younger son. The only thing that makes it at all worth taking a look is John Ritter who is a solid comedic actor. Life with Bonnie has some talent on with Bonnie Hunt and David Alan Grier in it but the concept seems kind of Full House-ish with her being the host of a local TV show and her family life etc etc. That being said I think if any of these has a shot, it is probably this one. Less then Perfect also carries a heavyweight in Andy Dick but yet he is not even the star of the show. The show centers around an office temp who deals with pushy co-workers. Not to sure how this will work but shows a little promise at least. In-Laws seems to have a very solid cast but the concept is so tired. Hidden Hills (saved for last for a reason) appears to be the worst of this lot. Although a somewhat novel concept in the adventures of suburbia, I somehow doubt it will last more then a show or two.
The returning shows on this night are what make this interesting. Buffy, of course, leads the way in what could be the final season although my hunch is there will be an 8th with SMG but then it will be turned over to Dawn. Unlike my sister, I actually have a little faith in Michelle T. (I am not even going to try to spell that name) although I have nothing to base this on except a hunch. I do look forward to see the aftermath of last season and where they go from here, although if Spuffy love returns this show is dead to me. Smallville is another show I can not wait for and I consistently hear rumors that one of Clark's parents is going to bite it and if so I think his father has to be the one to go. It makes the most sense casting and story wise. Although casting Martha Kent was an adventure for them. If you watch the first show when his parents truck is tipped over during the metor storm that is actually the orginal Martha Kent actoress in the car not current one. There is so many reasons though to look forward to this season from Lex and his father and the Clark/Chloe/Lana triangle and the space ship and the parents. I can not wait. Finally there is 24. I am totally unsure of what they are going to do with this show now. This could be really good even better then the somewhat uneven 1st season or really terrible.
2002-2003 Season, 24, Buffy, Frasier, Haunted, Hidden Hills, Judging Amy, Smallville: Whining Part III, Tuesday
Friday 09.06.2002
alice ttlg || 06:12 PM
Tuesday
Well, this used to be a night packed full of all kinds of really great shows, now it's sort of a jumbled mess and still too many things on at 8pm to tape all at once. Sitcoms: In-Laws, Just Shoot Me, Frasier, Hidden Hills on NBC and Life with Bonnie on ABC. In-Laws and Hidden Hills are just filler, Just Shoot Me is okay, Frasier is one of my two absolutely favorite sitcoms (the other being Friends) and I love Bonnie Hunt, so I'm hoping her show turns out good. Buffy, still one of the best shows around and it looks like they'll build up to a blockbuster ending with Faith showing up for five eps on Buffy and three eps on Angel near the end of the upcoming season. I don't know what happens after this year, I'm not that interested in "Dawn the Vampire Slayer", I would love to see "Faith the Vampire Slayer" but I doubt we'll get that, Eliza Dushku is more interested in movies right now (and getting bigger parts finally!) 8pm blockbusters, 24, Guardian and Smallville: This is VCR killer time! It'll be interesting to see what they do with 24, will they change the credits voiceover to something more reasonable? Or will it be "the second longest day of his life"? Guardian, this show just keeps getting better and better, I usually watch something else and tape this and watch a bunch of eps all at once and I always go "wow", lots of layers, lots of great people in the cast, Dabney Coleman is a more realistic version of Lionel Luther, the harsh father who lets out a bit of feeling every now and then and then goes back to pushing his son relentessly. Simon Baker walks a fine line, revealing just enough of his character's repressed emotions so that we know how much his father can and has hurt him over the years, then closing up again and showing that invulnerable facade that Nick hides behind. And Smallville, best superhero show around, all the standard comic book characters and story lines but with all the heart and youthful hormones necessary to bring it to life. Haunted, I dunno, this really looks atrocious but I will probably watch a few eps at least since it's on after Buffy. 9pm leftovers, Judging Amy and NYPD Blue, Amy's one of my favorite prime-time soaps, nice blend of soap and legal drama with Tyne Daly serving as a strong counterpoint to Amy's yuppie whinings. NYPD Blue, wow, such an improvement last year with the addition of Mark-Paul Gosselaer! I had pretty much given the show up for dead with Jimmy Smits and then Rick Schroder's disappointing run but last year turned everything around and it's almost as good as the first year! The new lieutenant played excellently by Esai Morales and the two new female characters, Charlotte Ross and Jacqueline Obradors have brought so much life to the show. I like Kim Delaney and I really miss Philly but I'm glad she's not coming back to NYPD Blue, her character had really run its course and to bring her back now would be a bad thing.24, Buffy, Dark Angel, Friends, Philly, Smallville, TV Awards, The Shield, Third Watch: Matt's Awards
Friday 06.07.2002
MattM || 01:05 AM
So here we are at the conclusion of a terrific television season with many, many highlights, something I don't have alot of hope for this coming season. So after watching all the shows (sorry, Witchblade, you're a summer series, see you next year), here are my own little Emmy awards. Personally, I think the Emmy judges wouldn't know good TV if it came up and bit them on the ass so, without further ado, here's my own categories and thoughts on this season.
Best New Show: This year this was hugely tough because of an influx of terrific new shows. Next year, I think, it will be tough to find one good one. This year, it came down to three shows: Alias, Smallville, and The Shield. I wrestled with this question in my mind for the last couple weeks, I feel so torn because I love each of those shows. However, in the end I give the award to The Shield, for the intrigue and characters and realism. This was a top notch show that reminds me of NYPD Blue in its first season. I think this show will grow into an elite show eventually. Honorable mention, though, I give to Alias for keeping us on the edge of our seats and guessing the whole way.
Best Season for a Returning Show: Another super tough decision that came down to two shows, Third Watch and Friends. In end, though I give it to Friends even if the last 5 minutes of the season finale killed me. Shows are not supposed to last 8 seasons and be this good yet Friends is a show that, with an unworkable formula, continues to defy the odds and norms. No show like this has ever worked before or since. Very few shows last 8 seasons without jumping the shark. Yet this was a steller season handling a pregancy that destroys all other shows and yet they made me laugh as hard as I did in the first few seasons. Honerable mention here goes to the most improved show Third Watch. The September 11th attack was horrible but may have actually given this show a new life. Always searching for its place, it finally did without overhyping or overdoing the attack. While Law and Order choose to ignore it, Third Watch played it just perfect and found itself.
Favorite New Lead: This one was pretty easy from start to finish. Jennifer Garner for her work as Sydney Bristow was fascinating to watch and terrific acting throughout a breakthrough season. Honorable Mention goes to Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer although the show sometimes lagged and his "longest day of my life" thing was overdone, his acting throughout was a consistently high level, his best work since the Lost Boys.
Favorite Returning Lead: If someone had told me I would have given this nod to Jennifer Aniston, I would have laughed. Yet despite her being my least favorite actor on the series her performance this year was truly nop notch. Through out Friends' history, it's always been a balance but this year she really made the show go. Never straying to far into baby stupidity, she played her character perfect and made me laugh more at her lines then anyone else's. "Horny bitch" and "Sluts R Us" are lines that will live forever in my head. Honorable mention here goes to Sarah Michelle Gellar for playing a lost and reluctantly brought back Buffy. Although the Spuffy love stuff made me recoil, the job she did was perfect and realistic of someone who just didn't want to be there.
Favorite New Supporting Role: This one was easy. No doubt at all that Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor wins here. At times, he stole the show. Still the season finale clinched this for him. Seeing the part of the good Lex die and the evil Lex grow and all done with no lines whatsoever was one of the best acting jobs of the season. He wins this one in a landslide. Honorable mention here goes to Sarah Lively as Nina Meyers who we all thought was so good and fooled us for the entire year.
Favorite Returning Supporting Role: This goes to one of my favorite characters on all of TV. Allison Janney gave yet another reason why I watch West Wing. Forget the men on this show, the women are fascinating to watch all by themselves. The press conferences and her job and then caring about a reporter who had ripped the Bartlett administration was absolutely awesome to watch. Honorable mention here goes to another Allison, this time Allison Hannigan on Buffy for the struggles of Willow and her dealing with addiction and loss and the dark side.
Lastly, before I wrap this up, I want to say farewell to series that should not have been cancelled. Fox once again shows just how truly stupid they are by canceling two great series in Titus and Dark Angel. Also, Philly should have been given more time although its last few shows were just average. Overall, a great season for TV but dark days are ahead.
[alicettlg adds] Wow, my brother can be amazingly detailed! :) Couple of thoughts to add, I'd have to give the award for best new show to Alias, The Shield just didn't do it for me like Alias, it had a good start tho, got some promising stuff and I look forward to the second season. Best returning show, I'd have to say Friends, too, Third Watch was very good and ER was right up there too but Friends did a great job all season. (and Matt, Seinfeld! Seinfeld! That's the other show like Friends that lasted a long time and was really about nothing, like Friends is about nothing.) I'd give honorable mention to favorite new supporting role to Michael Vartan for his role on Alias, with Nina a close third. But Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor was absolutely brilliant and that season finale! I'm more on pins and needles about what happens with Lex and his dad than I am about Clark saving Lana! And West Wing women being fascinating, you betcha! One of the few shows to write both male *and* female roles intelligently *and* to show women working alongside men, doing the same good job and wow, look at that, they're NOT all sleeping with each other! Ain't that amazing?!! :) (September 6, 2002 05:17 PM)
24: 11:00 pm to Midnight (Air Date 05/21/02)
Monday 05.27.2002
MattM || 07:29 AM
For the most part, this was a pretty anti-climactic season finale. We knew how it would play out in the end after the last episode. For the most part I was fairly bored with it but there were three very good and very wise decisions in how realistic it played out. I liked that they dealt with Drazen and his son in the first 30 minutes and didn't drag that out the whole show as one might think they would do and further in a fit of fatherly rage he killed Drazen. Then I liked the fact that he didn't kill Nina and she was just arrested. Finally I liked the fact that even though he won he had to pay a terrible cost for his victory in the form of his wife and unborn child. This should shape the character for next season and make him more conflicted and set up some great father/daughter issues they have to work out. I wasn't sure and still am not sure how they will work this next season. I have heard rumors of Palmer being president and him being in special forces again but who knows. Still how can he have two longest days of his life? Overall a slightly above average ending to a slightly above average season. I think if they are smart they will drop the 24 thing now. I think once is interesting for its novelty but twice is going to be a drag.
24: 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm (Air Date 5/14/02)
Thursday 05.16.2002
MattM || 06:10 AM
Ok I sure as hell didn't see this coming with Nina. Hello sharp right turn. I had thought Chapelle was the traitor. So much for that theory. Dang that sure explains alot on why Jamie was so reluctant to help. For the most part, this show was pretty boring but now all the pieces are in place the question is how it all plays out. Still I don't think the final episode has any surprises left. Jack will survive. Palmer will survive. Jack's family will survive. Bad guys probably will die. So to me this is sort of a letdown in someways. I am undecided if the rumored renewal of 24 is a good or bad thing.
24: 9 pm to 10 pm (Air Date 5/7/02)
Sunday 05.12.2002
MattM || 05:05 AM
I wasn't a huge fan of this how until it hit 6 hours to go mark. It seem just too long and a bit boring. Since then however the show really has picked up. Is it just me or is anyone else ready to strangle Sherry Palmer? God someone run her over with a bus please. Also a question if the police knew Kim was in danger, why just one car? Where's the backup? And how did they know where she was going to be? I've heard they shot three different endings so not even the cast knows which one is going to be used. Well two more hours to go and it should be very interesting how it plays out. I hope Fox brings it back next year but what are they going to do with it if they do?
24: (Air Date 3/26/02)
Sunday 03.31.2002
alice ttlg || 02:57 PM
Having watched 3/4 of the season now, I find that while I still like it, there's something to be said for the "normal" way tv shows are done, build up to a serious, tense episode and then have a lighter one the next week. This show has no break in the tension, even movies have breaks, like in 3 Days of the Condor, there were breaks in the tension, romantic interludes, places where the characters (and the viewers) could stop and catch their breath. The relentless tension on 24, week in, week out, gets a bit stale after awhile, I'm finding that we need that break, otherwise the tension loses it's effect, we simply can't sustain that level of emotion for 6 to 8 months of watching a tv show.
Another drawback to the way this show is done is that there are no trivial characters, nothing superfluous. If a new character shows up, we know right away that they are somehow involved in the main assassination plot. Like this doctor meeting Teri Bauer at the restaurant, I can't believe that this will be some tangent about her past/Jack's past/their separation, it'll turn out to have something to do with the assassination plot. So this removes the surprise effect, they need to toss in a few red herrings, flesh out the characters' pasts and personalities without it all tying into the central plot. Even movies have subplots, again in 3 Days of the Condor, we got the subplot of her photos, of her past that didn't have anything to do with the main plot of the movie.
But I still like the show very much and I'm interested to see what they do in a second season, like my brother says, they can't really use the same opening voiceover, "....and this is the longest day of my life", and the second season is the "second longest day of my life"??? I haven't heard if they'll continue with Keifer as the star or perhaps move to another character as the primary and it's his/her longest day of their life.
24: (Air Date 1/22/02)
Wednesday 01.23.2002
alice ttlg || 02:57 PM
I like this show! Although it's definitely different, it's like watching the totally uncut version of a movie, you know, they always film like 20 to 40 hours worth for a movie and then edit it down to 90 minutes. This is like the totally uncut version so we're seeing every single plot twist and turn and every minor character that would have normally ended up on the cutting room floor. Makes it more like reading a book, since you get all the details that movies normally leave out.
But they're doing an excellent job of it so far, although I keep wondering what they're going to fill the rest of the day with since they've revealed various things and characters in the first seven hours (I haven't seen last night's ep yet). But I'm glad they didn't keep us waiting the whole season to see who the traitor is or what the secret about the Senator's son was, that would have been boring as hell. Good books give you bits and pieces along the way, they don't keep you wondering about everything until the very last page.
and Keifer Sutherland is gorgeous.
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