And so that’s just what is happening. Soon we shall be getting Space: 2099. Here’s hoping they do fix the SFX, fashion and basic premise (the moon can move, yes, but let’s have some kind of warp or something getting it from system to system – something only slightly more plausible than an FTL orbiting body, granted, but give me something). Let’s also hope they get a quality cast, delivering quality performances based on quality scripts.

I’m expecting way too much, aren’t I?

I’ve been hearing great things about this series . . . miniseries? Maxiseries? What does one call it? In any case, everyone whose judgment I trust and who had seen Deadwood spoke highly of it. Now, there are a couple of possibilities in such a situation. One such possibility is that I would not be in synchronicity with all those others, that I would watch this series and wonder why so many loved it so much. It’s happened before—books, movies, TV series that others have highly recommended have failed to make an impact on me.

Not so with Deadwood. I imagine I was predisposed to enjoying it. Like Rome, it comes from HBO, is historical, and while it plays with history, delivers the proper sense, the proper atmosphere—it makes one believe in the experience. Also like Rome, it has gripping characters. Even the characters you hate, you want to see more of, learn more of. You sympathize, or perhaps empathize with even the darkest of characters.

Almost all of the characters are villains of some sort or another, with a few exceptions. Those exceptions are, of course, the point of view characters. We all see ourselves as the good guys, yes? None of us wants to believe we are Al Swearengen, or Dan Dority, or E. B. Farnum. No, we all want to be Seth Bollock, or at least Sol Star.

Me, I’m more of a Charlie Utter. I digress.

I enjoy a good western. I can’t say that I’m a fan or follow them closely, but I count Silverado,  Tombstone and Wild Bill among my favourite movies. And wouldn’t you know it, both Wyatt Earp (haven’t seen him yet) and Wild Bill Hickock (saw him) make appearances. And Keith Carradine, who plays Wild Bill in Deadwood played Buffalo Bill Cody in Wild Bill. Connections, connections.

But, listen, all that aside, Deadwood delivers on everything I want. It’s got a grim sense of corruption, it’s got a stoic hero, it’s got great writing, three –dimensional characters, absolutely stellar acting—it’s addictively good.

Tomorrow night, I’ll likely be up late again, and be drinking hefty amounts of coffee during the day because I can’t just sit down and watch one episode, I’ve got to keep going until I’m ready to drop. I’m totally hooked, totally addicted. I’m almost through Season 1

Now I have to go find Season 2.

There’s been plenty of ink spilled on the Hulk TV program. Guillermo del Toro has been linked to it, so that’s hopeful. The old TV series was pretty good and really had its moments, but was pretty divorced from the comic book property which spawned it. Hopefully we’ll see something even better. Not being a fan of the comic, I could care less if the show deviates from the plot of the comics, given that I can’t even tell you what the plot of the comic is these days—though I did enjoy Planet Hulk.

For Cloak & Dagger, I read the first year of the series that was spawned by Strange Tales back in the late 80s. It never really struck me as being that interesting. Like most Marvel properties, give it to a great writer, you’ll get something great. I can’t even guess what the TV will bring us.

As for Punisher vs. DotD, for this one, I’d go with Daughters. Yes, more obscure, but the talk is for properties to be broadcast on ABC. DotD strikes me as something that could work on a regular broadcast network while the Punisher needs something with a harder edge, like HBO.

Apparently, after the release of the Dark Knight Rises, Warner Bros. is going to produce a TV series based on Nolan’s Batman franchise–well, based on the comic book, of course, but the rumour indicates the suit running this show would keep it in line with Nolan’s movies–except for one important caveat. The bad guy for this TV series is going to be the Joker.

Now this sounds interesting, but it is not enough to get me excited, especially since what made Batman Begins and the Dark Knight so amazing was Christopher’s Nolan vision of the character and his ability to shield the production from tampering. Moving it onto the small screen without that protection means all bets are off. This could be all kinds of awesome or all kinds of suck.

The part that gets me excited is the name attached to play Batman/Bruce Wayne: Karl Urban. I’ve been a fan of Karl Urban’s since seeing him as Eomer in the Two Towers. I even endured Pathfinder because it gave him a starring role–only the inclusion of Clancy Brown allows me to mention that movie without beating my head against the table. Having him as Batman is an inspired choice. He’s got the look, he’s got the chops, and he’s got the physicality to deliver.

Get this production a good show runner and a slew of good scripts, and you might have a real winner.

More likely than that, though, is that this will all evaporate like dream vapours shat out the ass of pessimism.

See the original article here.

I have to admit to being a True Lies fan. I thought it was a great movie, a great comedy, and a wonderful parody. I would love to see it as a TV series, if it was done right. I honestly can’t decide if I would like a total reboot, with Helen not knowing, or a carry-on series, starting up where the movie left off.

Of course, if it runs for at least two seasons, we could have it both ways, having the season one finale the point at which Helen learns, and then season two would be her being indoctrinated as an “Omega Sector” operative.

One good thing about it being a TV series is that they can re-cast it. Nothing against any of the principles, but the movie was made in 1994. Unless they are going for something completely different, I don’t think the Tasker family +16 years is what anyone is interested in seeing.

HGD starts out as a fun and promising series. Check out the opening on Youtube. That first 8 minutes totally sold me on the series, and the first few episodes repaid that buy-in. They were amusing with some fun fight scenes and nothing too serious. That’s not to say it was all laughs and silliness. Hong Gil Dong is the bastard son of a noble who both loves his son but knows that as a bastard, his horizons are limited. Gil Dong doesn’t accept those limitations, but he still loves his father. Their relationship was both poignant and sad.

This poignancy did not overshadow the fun of the series, but gave it a dramatic anchor. Unfortunately, the series crept more and more into melodrama. Melodrama is pretty ubiquitous on Korean TV, so this shouldn’t have surprised me. And it wasn’t bad, per se. I liked the characters, and there was still homour and the occasional fun fight scene, but the tears overwhelmed the laughs. I hung in there to the end because what they promised me in the first episode.

See, at the end of that awesome first fight scene, the tag line tells us that the story starts a few years earlier. Given this, I had expected the series to move forward until it reached the opening scene, and then continue on. Without giving spoilers, it does not do this. To me, that’s a total cheat. I loved that opening scene. I loved the mixture of modern with historical. I loved the fight scenes. Perhaps not up to movie standards, but for a TV series, the wire-work was more than acceptable.

But even before I realized that I wasn’t going to get to the payoff I had imagined, two of the characters in the series annoyed me. First, the exiled prince, Lee Chang Hwui, was just way too emo for me. I had no sympathy for him. I think it was a mixture of the character’s visual style and the writing. I don’t blame the actor, because I know that characters such as this are added to cater to Korean teenage girls. These are the kinds of characters they swoon over.

Second, the female protagonist, Heo Yi Nok, is referred to as an idiot and a fool all through the series. She may be naive, but she isn’t stupid. However, both Gil Dong and Chang Hwui, both of whom develop feelings for her, regularly comment on how stupid she is. She does so as well. It really annoyed me. I know this is still part of Korean culture. No matter what gains women have made, Korea remains strongly Confucianism and patriarchal.

The thing is, Yi Nok starts out as a pretty fair hand at martial arts. Not up to Gil Dong’s level (he is pretty much a one-man army at the beginning, being depicted as a human tornado in one great scene), but she handily kicks everyone’s @$$ until Gil Dong shows up. I think she could have been a great foil for both Gil Dong and Chang Hwui were she their equal in all things–martial arts and smarts. Let’s not go the other direction and make her the only intelligent one (because, as we know, all men are idiots), but make all three equals. She does act as Gil Dong’s compassion and revives his long buried empathy for the common people, but she remains a pathetic fool.

I would definitely recommend HGD to lovers of Korean TV. If you dig the regular dramas available in Korea, HGD is going to offer you something both comfortably familiar yet with enough difference to make it novel. If you don’t dig on melodrama, and lots of heat break and tears, check out the first few episodes. But trust me, once things start getting heavy, it doesn’t turn back.

I’d give Hong Gil Dong 4 quarterstaffs out of 5. For the first six or so episodes, I’d make it 4.5 out of 5.

Matt’s got a couple of tough acts to follow, what with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant kicking all kinds of stuff in their performances as the Doctor. And that doesn’t include all the great actors who came in the series first incarnation.

I don’t know when we here in Canada will get to see Mr. Smith in action. I actually haven’t seen the last couple of seasons of the new series, but I know some of the episodes are available on the CBC.

And if you need a fix, check out the amazing web-comid The Ten Doctors. A lot of fun for those of us who remember the series from Way Back (TM).

It’s actually interesting how many comics have become TV programs. I mean other than the “big names” (of which now only Smallville really remains, but I remember Lois and Clark, the Flash, Birds of Prey, among others) there have been attempts at more “indie” titles like Witchblade and Painkiller Jane.

Given the success comic book movies have had, it only makes sense TV gets in on the trend. Further, with the success of Heroes, it seems like a no-brainer that TV execs will start looking for the next big thing.

We shall see.