A Fringe Rant

K, last night's Fringe...whoa!  The sparks that were flying between Olivia and Peter...I was nearly crawling out of my skin!!!!!  And then....Oh my goodness!!!  In a few words: I loved and hated last night's episode!!!  I want Peter and Olivia to get together so darn badly, and now it seems like that's never gonna happen!!!!  So sad!!!  Why does Peter have to be from an alternate universe?!?!  It's so saddening!!!  I like the whole him being from another dimension/reality/universe/whatever thingy, but it's just so sad!  Can Olivia ever fall in love with him now?  And how long is it gonna be before Peter learns the ever increasingly common knowledge-y piece of information?  It's just so frustrating...But what did I expect?  It's J.J. Abrams...so I should've seen this crazy-making frustration coming (and I have to admit that I kinda did).  Yeah, so if you haven't seen the latest episode of Fringe you really should (and you probably should've before you started reading this.)  Oh, one more question: WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST KISS!!!!!  GAH!!!  KISS ALREADY PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!  grrrrrrrrr!!!  Ok, so I think I'm done...maybe...I'm done with this blog posting rant right now.  (I'll probably go on and rant some more somewhere else later.)  So...so long!

~Manda

Fun things to read, see, and check out

K, so I was just kind of browsing all my favorite TV info spots and I came across a few things that interested me:

First: An unaired season 1 episode of Fringe is being aired three days before the next episode of this season. In it a teenage girl dies only to wake up as doctors are removing her organs and is now able to speak Russian and know highly classified information. The article alludes to the idea that this could somehow take place in an alternate universe, but it doesn't for sure say anything, so who knows. (J.J. Abrams and his alternate realities...what are we going to do with him?) The original article can be found here.

Second: I found an interview with Adam Baldwin about season 3 of Chuck. There were a couple of things that interested me on this one. First of all, I had no idea he was in My Bodyguard and Independence Day. (Now, I've only seen My Bodyguard once and I haven't seen Independence Day for a long long time...and both of those I haven't seen since I've known who he is, but...) Secondly he said something that just made me happy. He talked about how a lot of the Firefly fans have crossed over to Chuck...yeah, happy! That interview can be found here.

Third: While reading the interview with Adam Baldwin I came across this interview with George Lucas...he's pretty awesome, so I decided to share it! (I couldn't get the copy I wanted to work, the full interview can be found here.)

~Manda

What I did over Christmas break

So today I had the first day of my 20th century art and architectural history class and we went around the class and had to say our name, major, and something interesting about us. The only thing I was able to think of that could in anyway be remotely interesting about me was that I blog about television. I didn't say it, mostly because I know I'm more interesting than that, also I didn't want my class thinking I was completely pathetic on the first day of class.

Well, this break was interesting due to the fact that I didn't really watch anything new until the third to last day of the break, but the one thing that I did watch...AMAZING!

So, I'm a fan of J.J. Abrams (my top ten things I'm thankful for in television says so) and I started watching Fringe. I had seen parts of a few episodes of season 1 when my friend and I would hang out and watch a little TV before we studied on Tuesdays, but due to the fact that it freaked her out we ended up watching Privileged and 90210 instead (yeah...I know.) So I started watching it with my 7 and 10 year old brothers and it was sooo good! I ended up finishing all of season 1 before school started today. Yeah, the show is just that good! Hahaha, no but really, even though it's not my fastest time going through a season of television, I kind of couldn't stop watching. I get that way, especially with J.J. Abrams (Alias anyone?)

So yeah, if I were in a class that required me to write a paper about what I did over the break (the kind of class I haven't been in since I was at least a Junior in high school) I'd write about finally getting my ears pierced, working a little on my book, a couple other things, but I'd probably mostly write about Fringe...cuz it's awesome!

~Manda

As previously stated...

After watching an exciting (and odd) season finale of the Guild (spoiler alert: Codex wins!!! woohoo!!!) I found out some sad news. As I have previously stated: I really don't love FOX, and today I found another reason to harbor that dislike. I was reading an article about the midseason line-up and in addition to the depressing cancellation of Dollhouse (but at least they are smart to finish it off...they'd have chaos on their hands if they didn't) and the benching of J.J. Abrams's Fringe (so the two shows they decided to make the new 50 minute shows get axed? how fair is that?! And when will FOX learn not to do sci-fi anymore...it just doesn't work for them like it used to) I learned that due to the filming schedule for Glee it will be taking a 4 month hiatus. It will air it's winter finale December 9 and not return till April 13. When it does return it will be on Tuesday nights rather than Wednesdays. (Learning this really made it make a lot more sense that Joss was directing an episode in March...I was scratching my head about that one.) I don't understand FOX. I loved it in the '90s, but now I believe it to be rather frustrating! At least I'll have Chuck to get me through the times of being Glee-less. (Ahh, NBC, thank you for your wonderful shows!) So, that's my little bit of info. Sad, true, frustrating, and exciting all rolled into one nice, neat, little article!

~Manda

Happy Thanksgiving: TV style!

So, after (and before) the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and pie, we need to remember why we really have this holiday: to remember to be grateful for what we've got! This (thank goodness) means we can show our gratitude for television too! So I decided I'd put together a little thanksgiving list of the top ten things I'm grateful for that couldn't be possible without the great invention of Philo T. Farnsworth's (now granted, all of mine are probably going to be from my lifetime, and probably from the last ten-ish years of it...I haven't been alive all that long...I need to learn!!!)

10. Heroes - I was keeping up at the beginning of the season, but then I got really busy with school and other stuff. Now granted, it has gone a little down hill, but my obsessions with loving comics, Milo Ventimiglia, Zachary Quinto, the really cool characters with really cool powers, among other things keep me watching!

9. J.J. Abrams - even tho I haven't been keeping up on Lost, this man is incredible. His stories are so intense, and his characters so complex. He tends to snowball out of control a lot, but that's fun too! And in addition to his TV-ness, he did a wicked awesome job on Star Trek (wow, that was an AWESOME movie!!!)

I didn't have room for everyone, so I just put these two cuz I found pic with both of them

8. Great actors that make great TV - I didn't really know where to put this, but it is a necessity. Although actors aren't my favorite part of TV, they do make it awfully enjoyable! So I'm grateful for Eliza Dushku, Hugh Laurie, Tahmoh Penikett, Summer Glau, Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Kristen Bell, David Boreanaz, Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Zachary Levi, Adam Brody, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, as well as others mentioned in this post (and I could seriously go on and on...there are some awesome actors!!!)

7. sidereel.com - I actually think this could have a number one spot being that it is the way I watch most of my TV, but it just seems wrong for it to be ahead of all my shows and my favorite TV geniuses!!! But I am very grateful for the wonderful invention of sidereel!

6. House - I became a fan of this great show over the summer and if I'm not watching Glee or the Office (or Battlestar Galactica) I am so watching House! It has managed to stay pretty awesome even tho House has kicked the vicodin habit. Love that show!

5. The Office - I still say that season 2 is my favorite, but there is something about this show that calls me back week after week. I kind of have a feeling this something's name sounds like Kohn Jrasinski or Him Jalpert, but I'm not sure (hahaha, I'm a dork, yes!). Regardless of the reason, I have had many a laugh (and surprisingly a cry) over this show! It is a great show!

4. Battlestar Galactica - this was going to be number six (it just seemed so fitting...hahaha) but I couldn't have it be after the Office and House. I started watching it this semester and have on more than one occasion found myself watching it instead of doing something I actually should be doing (don't tell my mom...hahahaha). It had to have a higher number this Thanksgiving!

3. Glee!!! This show has made this season of television so amazing! I love the music, the actors, the stories, and the fact that they are starting to show a little consistency in all those things. It also makes me not hate FOX quite so much! hahahaha

2. Josh Schwartz - He created the O.C., Gossip Girl and Chuck. I had never even considered watching the O.C. till I had already fallen in love with all things Chuck. I have since then actually seen just about every episode and have come to love his humor and wittiness, and I've now been able to see a lot of it in Chuck (in addition to the O.C./Chuck crossover actors -- I love it when that happens!!!)

1. Joss Whedon - Ok, I don't think this number one spot surprises anyone! He created the best shows and has helped with the whole turning television into an art form. I believe he is on the frontier of the television world with this Dr. Horrible business. He's my hero and I hope to meet him someday. (And this number one spot includes him and all the great things he has created...especially Buffy the Vampire Slayer!!)

Ok, in addition to this little list I want to share two of my favorite Thanksgiving episodes I've seen on television (and actually remember).

Pangs: BtVS season 4. I don't think I could ever forget how many funny moments are in this episode, but one sticks out in my mind always: Spike tied to a chair getting hit over and over by arrows that are flying through Giles's house. Also the touching-ness of the help Angel feels he needs to give and how he tries to hide his presence from Buffy. Awww...so sweet (and the follow-up episode in Angel where she goes to LA, he becomes human, realizes it's a bad idea, and erases the day from everyone's memory but his is very awww-worthy too).

The Homecoming: the O.C. season 1. Now granted, I don't know this as well as Buffy (and that's kind of a "thank goodness" sort of thing) but I've been thinking about the beginning of this episode a lot this Thanksgiving. The nearly incoherent ramblings of the darling Seth Cohen make the show, and they make this episode as well. In the beginning of this episode he begs his mother to not cook the dinner at all and she wants so badly to make the holiday unforgettable for Ryan. He also works on dating Anna and Summer at the same time (which in so many ways make season one so incredibly enjoyable). Oh, Seth Cohen on Thanksgiving, great times!!!

So, Happy Thanksgiving to all! Lets be grateful for all we get to have, and in addition to all those great blessings, let us not forget to be grateful for our television!!!

~Manda