January 16, 2007

Brannon Braga Must Die!

Just watch the last episode of the cancelled science-fiction television series Threshold after wasting hours and hours of your life on the previous nine episodes. That's all I'm saying. See how he ties up the storylines. If you don't feel like killing executive producer/writer Braga, you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

Posted by oko at 07:49 PM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2004

Out, out brief candle: Lumiere's gone

With the tsunami death toll now estimated at 100,000+, I worry that Jerry Orbach's passing won't get the attention it deserves. No way, dude. Everybody's eulogizing the best Frenchified singing candle of all time from Beauty and the Beast. And wasn't he in some show called Law & Order or something, too? Shed a tear with Gothamist. (Thanks to gawker.com.)

Posted by oko at 05:23 AM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2004

The Next Generation is so over

After six months of extremely dedicated television viewing, I've finally finished watching every single episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (from now on, known as "TNG"). I was always a fan of Star Trek the original series (from now on, known as "TOS"), but I had never paid any attention to any of the TV sequels. So why did I start on this arduous undertaking, why did I decide to commit some 176 hours of my life to a show that's been off the air for a decade?

Well, a big part of it was due to the fact that I had just watched every episode of TOS, and I wanted to see McCoy, Spock, and Scotty again, since they all made guest appearances on the newer series, and I wanted to see how TNG treated the characters (not very well, as it turned out). But an even bigger part is that I'm unemployed (AKA a freelance writer) and I've got the time to give such a time-consuming project.

After the horrible first season of TNG, I was thinking of giving up, but I still had the Spock two-parter to watch (which turned out to be crappy). I hated dweeby Wesley Crusher, eye-roll-inducing psychobabbler Deanna Troi, and creepy woman-stalker Geordi La Forge. I thought Jean-Luc Picard had about as much charisma as a damp popsicle stick compared to the kickass babe magnet known as Captain Kirk. But after a while, the characters actually started growing on me: Data and Worf were kinda fun, and the Borg were kinda interesting, too.

And now that I've seen the well written and touching last episode, I'm sad my ordeal is over. I still don't think TNG's characters are as interesting, iconic, or funny as the original trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, but I grew to like them. In my case, familiarity bred affection. TNG lacked the humor (mostly campy) of TOS, and had a P.C. earnestness about it that was sometimes grating, but the characters (and actors portraying them) seemed to genuinely like and respect each other. And after seven years' worth of character development, there was enough back story that you felt you really knew these people, and cared about what happened to them.

So I'm done, it's all over, and, thank God, I finally don't have to watch Star Trek anymore. Until my DVDs of Deep Space Nine start rolling in. Hey, I need to know what happens to Worf!

Posted by oko at 02:24 AM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2004

Earthsea earthsucked

I pity the fools who watched the SciFi Channel's adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin's classic Earthsea novels. I pity myself because I was one of them, wasting four hours of my life on a teen-angst-ridden piece of trash that bore little resemblance to the original. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement - I hated it, from the unnecessary plot changes to the manufactured romance to the odd grunge-inspired little woven cap that the charisma-less actor who played Ged wore. Anyway, I guess I'm not the only one disappointed. See Ursula K. Le Guin's complaint at Slate.

Posted by oko at 06:10 AM | Comments (0)