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Pilot roundup time! It’s leak season online, so on Thursday, I checked out the pilots for J.J. Abrams’ Fringe and the TV adaptation of Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse books, True Blood.

Fringe was rather meh. I might tune in for the second episode, to see just how sad an X-Files ripoff it’s going to be, but right now I’m on the “leave it” side of the “take it or leave it” conundrum. I really enjoyed the first part of the pilot, but when they started pulling in the big mytharc guns, it just felt silly. It was entertaining, certainly, but… While it’s easy to suspend one’s disbelief for crazy “fringe” science, it’s a lot harder to swallow when the stupid little details closer to reality aren’t believable. The whole show loses grounding. A dude’s skin is reduced to the consistency of Jell-o, but he still keeps his eyebrows and a perfect head of hair? The devil is in the details, writers. The ending kind of sucked.

Still, there were some aspects of the show that were pretty cool. I liked the way they floated the location cues in the scene. That was just neat! And Denethor was awesome in his role as a brilliant but insane scientist. The astral plane sequence was delightfully trippy, and all the other visual effects were very well done. WOO, ZOIC!

But yeah. While I imagine it’ll find an audience somewhere, that somewhere won’t be my couch.

True Blood was a bit more difficult to quantify. The pilot is quite faithful to the events of the first half of the first book, so good job TV creative team! Unfortunately, that meant that all the things that bugged me about the book were there in force. Though I’m probably letting my book-irk and utter lack of patience for Bill color my perception of the show, as the show actually did a passable job showing why Sookie was attracted to him. (For the record: Sookie/Sam, woo!)

They did a great job with Sookie’s psychic effect, though the vamp effect was utterly laughable. The guy at the convenience store looked like some dweeby vampire rabbit! Also, the sex was way more graphic and obnoxious than it needed to be. Stupid HBO.

I think it definitely shows promise, though. Anna Paquin’s Southern accent has improved considerably since the first X-Men. And it’ll be nice to have a vampire show on TV that isn’t all brooding angst and private detectiving. There’s a unique, quirky freshness to the novels that I think will do well on TV. I’m curious to see how it adapts.

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HAHA, YES! Managed to snag a ticket to Eddie Izzard at Radio City Music Hall tomorrow night! They’ve been sold out for ages, but I guess they released a few more. I win at life!

Also, mah Summer Shows are getting cloooooser!

Middleman: Mondays, 10/9c (ABC Family)
Burn Notice: Thursdays, July 10 @ 10/9c (USA)
Project Runway: Wednesdays, July 16 @ 9/8c (Bravo)
Psych: Fridays, July 18 @ 10/9c (USA)

Obligatory linkspam:

In the past couple weeks, I’ve become a follower of the Big Picture, a blog that describes itself as “News Stories in Photographs.” Some are inspiring, some are moving, some are devastating, and all are in breathtaking high-res. Check it out!

Schedule of TV-related Panels at San Diego Comic Con.

I already adored xkcd, but… God bless you for giving me the phrase “Barack Me Obamadeus!” I laughed for like thirty seconds straight.

New trailer for the Repo Man rock opera.

An utterly brilliant entrant in Colbert’s “Make McCain Exciting” challenge: Vogue.

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I left work at 12:15 last night, but I impulsively stayed up late and watched the pilot of The Middleman, which was ridiculously fun. It has early cancellation written all over it, but I plan to enjoy the heck out of it as long as it lasts! It’s a deliciously quirky, self-aware show about an art school graduate who is recruited by a secret agency to fight against evil forces. Her square-jawed employer is best summarized as Captain Carrot working for the Men in Black. In one scene, he beats up a mob boss between taking long drinks of milk.

I’m not quite sure what age group it’s intended for, which is one of the reasons I’m so convinced it’s doomed to be prematurely canceled. With its light tone and goofy comic book stylings (not to mention its slot on ABC Family), one might think it was intended for young teens, but some of the content surprised me. There are comments about the heroine, Wendy, being a “beard” for her film student boyfriend, a running joke about cursing (which is bleeped out with a little black rectangle over the person’s mouth), and pop-culture references I wouldn’t expect tweens to get, such as Wendy’s cry of “Get your filthy paws off of me you damn dirty ape” when being dragged away as a hostage by a genetically engineered, super intelligent gorilla.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s intended specifically for me!

So check it out. This show is pure, unadulterated fun! If you don’t believe me, check out this glowing review from the New York Times. If you have ABC Family, it’s on Mondays at 8/7c. If you don’t, it’s on BitTorrent iTunes.

In other news: Wave 4 of the Doctor Who action figures includes a 6″ Doctor with five Adipose, due to hit stores late July. If the Beeb can’t cough up a plushie Adipose, this would make an absolutely delightful addition to my desk diorama!

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Project Runway. So… do the judges even remember their prom? You don’t want you look cute and young and 17, you want to look mature and elegant. Sweet Pea should have won! The only dresses I would have worn to prom were hers or Chris’. Victorya’s = Fug. Well, it’s cute, but it’s also cheap-looking and unflattering. While it may be a decent choice for a mixer or party, it is NOT appropriate for a prom!

Also, I feel so terribly wicked for thinking this, but even though I loathe Christian and want to slap him in the face whenever I see him, I kind of want him to stay on the show for the time being (though leave well before Bryant Park). Yes, his clothes are often rather interesting–albeit TRAGICALLY 80s–but he makes such a lovely TARGET for the natural drama of competition, and we need someone to mock now that Elisa is gone.

P.S. HAHAHAHA a girl looking for a designer for her prom dress chose Chris’ portfolio over Victorya’s? OHSNAP!

Some entertaining links for joo:

AMPTP vs. WGA: Jocks versus Nerds. There’s an 80s movie to be made here, if only we had someone to write it!

Mad TV: Under Barack Obama

Bill Gates’ last day at Microsoft — Gates rocks for doing this.

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WOAH. You know that Levi’s ad that has the guy struggling to pull up his jeans, then with his jeans comes the entire street, a taxi cab, and a hot girl in a telephone booth? I just saw a variation with the exact same footage, except it’s a HOT GUY IN THE BOOTH. And they are cute and gay and Levi’s is MADE OF WIN. I am so thrilled with them for doing this. ROCK ON.

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OMG, GALINDA AND AUDREY ARE ON MY TEEVEE, SINGING ABOUT BIRDCAGES IN THE HEART. Why is Pushing Daisies the best show ever?

And EEE, ABC just picked up the back 9! A quirky show I love isn’t getting canceled after like two episodes! Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

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From SciFi Wire:

“McG has teamed with writer Ari Eisner for Invisible, a drama project, which landed at Fox with a script commitment, according to The Hollywood Reporter; the proposed series tells the story of a criminal who is given a second chance at life when a chemical compound makes him invisible.”

Um… why don’t you just un-cancel The Invisible Man? *wistful sigh*

What the heck is up with TV recently? The outright theft of previous TV concepts–RECENT concepts, at that–feels so much more blatant and rampant nowadays. They’re like old show OC fanfiction.

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I’ve watched an unusual amount of TV while working on the wig this week, so I can actually talk about pilots! Originally, I’d been planning to watch only a select few, let my flist determine the winners of the shows I didn’t watch, then play catch up with those that made the cut.

Journeyman didn’t really grab me, mostly because I kept comparing it unfavorably to the extraordinary Life on Mars. It certainly has promise, but unless my flist convinces me otherwise, I won’t be watching.

I haven’t gotten around to watching the aired version of Bionic Woman, but it’s waiting for me when I get home.

I watched the first five minutes of Moonlight and had to change the channel.

Returning shows:

Heroes returns with a bang, and if Hiro doesn’t end up beoming Kinsei, I’ll eat my Fangirl Card. I saw this coming from the first time we saw that painting of Kinsei in Linderman’s collection and I noticed that he had the same facial hair as Future Hiro. And Will thought I was mad, HAH! Not sure what to call Mohinder’s new friend. Has the fandom come up with a nickname yet? My top contenders are “Mister Midas” and “The Alchemist.”

House was absolutely hilarious. THIS is why I love this show!