And lo, there shall come endings!

The series finale of The Sopranos this past weekend (which I didn't watch, by the way, because I've never been that huge a fan and would rather buy the DVDs and watch them in the future) reminded me that I was going to do a post about all the shows I watch on television and how they left things this season and whether or not they were good. So let's go - and of course, there will be SPOILERS!

Fox:

24: Well, the entire final third of the season was a bit anticlimactic, wasn't it? I mean, the nuclear bomb going off in California was cool. Jack feeling all conflicted about doing the job after shooting Curtis was cool. The plot to kill the president was pretty cool. Once they got Fayed, however, everything went a bit to shit. I know they had to clear up some loose ends, like Jack's father, but the whole Russian threat and the Chinese and the kid ... it went on way too long. The only cool thing that happened during that time was Milo's sudden death, which was pretty neat. Of course, the action was well done and the resolution was spectacular as usual, but the whole plot felt tacked on, even more so than it has in the past. It just seems like they're really running out of ideas on the show. I'm going to start next season, but I really hope they can come up with something different. Otherwise, it's just not that interesting anymore.

House: Occasionally this year, Dr. House got almost human, and the show suffered because of it. I get that they can't keep him a bastard forever and want to move him forward as a character, but most of the show's charm is that he's a bastard and always will be. The whole story with the threat of him going to jail was okay, but again, tried to make him contrite, which is boring. Similarly, toward the end of the season, when his three employees/worker bees/slaves were either fired or quit, it was a bit more interesting because he insisted on being hard-ass with them. I have no idea what's going to happen, if the three will be back or if he'll just get new peons to browbeat, but they need to get back to Hugh Laurie being a total jerk. As for the medical stuff, Scott at Polite Dissent does a wonderful job going over it each week, and apparently it got sloppier than usual this year. The worst transgression was the "pro-life" episode, where a fetus seemingly grabbed House's finger. It was supposedly based on a true event, but the "true event" has been debunked. It's still an interesting show, but it suffered a bit at the end of this season.

Bones: I really like this show, and I like how the writers balance the gruesome crimes with the soap opera. I also like how Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz flirt but haven't jumped into bed yet, and also how they talk about them not jumping into bed yet. I have no idea how "real" the science in the show is (not very, I suspect), but I don't worry about it too much. This is a cheerier version of the CSI shows on CBS, which I don't watch. And the chemistry among the cast is better than the CSI shows, too, as far as I can tell when my mother's in town (who watches them religiously). That being said, the season finale, with its unbelievably cheesy wedding between Angela and Hodgins, was just dumb. I love that Angela is that guy from ZZ Top's daughter, but their romance has been pretty weird. And it would be great to see Stephen Fry back in a guest-starring role occasionally.

The Simpsons: I don't even know if this counts as a show I watch anymore. I'm pretty sure I didn't miss an episode, but it's no longer a show that is "must-see." It's like a comfortable shoe. It's still mildly humorous, and occasionally it will come out with something really funny, but it's just there. Everything's been done. I may or may not watch next season (probably; that's the beauty of DVR), but it's not like it's going to register very much. It's just a nice way to kill 22 minutes or so.

NBC:

Heroes: Because I'm a comic book geek, you knew I'd love this show. For the most part, the writers did a good job this year with the various storylines, although for a show about superpowered people popping up worldwide, it seemed pretty localized to the United States. The ending, which was disappointing, wasn't horrible. The creator, Tim Kring, gave an interview in which he attempted to explain the gigantic holes in the finale, including why Peter didn't fly away his own damned self, but his excuse doesn't make much sense. Writers should have better reasons for why things happen, especially on a show where we're already suspending our disbelief. That being said, it was a satisfying first season, and Hiro in 17th-century Japan is awesome. We'll see if the show can keep up the goodness.

My Name Is Earl: This is the only Thursday night comedy I watch, and yes, I know the others are good too. There were a few things that disappointed me about this season, but generally, it kept up the quality. I was happy that they did a few episodes "outside of the list," as it kept things fresh. The two things I didn't like: the end of the Randy/Catalina romance, which was handled very poorly; the season finale, with Earl going to jail. It just seemed ridiculous, and I'm sure it will be rectified in the first episode or two of the new season, so I'm not that put out by it. I've also noticed that Catalina seemed to be pushed to the background after she and Randy had their night together, and that sucks, because she's an awesome character - much better than Joy.

Interestingly enough, I DVRed every single episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and haven't watched them yet. Tom came up with the word "TiNo" for the phenomenon of recording shows and never watching them (at least I think he came up with it). That's a great word, and I have a feeling this show will fall into that category for me.

CBS:

You know, I watch nothing on CBS. Weird.

ABC:

At the beginning of the year, we watched a few episodes of Desperate Housewives, and I was really shocked to see how bad the show has gotten. Talk about a steep drop!

Lost: This is my favorite show currently on the air, and although the first part of the season was tough to watch, I didn't hate it as much as many people did, and the show regained its footing nicely in February when it returned. The season finale was fantastic, and sets up the remaining 48 shows nicely. I hope this experiment that ABC is doing, with 16 shows per season for three years, works, especially if they run them all in a row. 24's ratings went up when Fox started the season in January, and if Lost follows suit, maybe the networks will start running shows without a break and make the seasons shorter. Then we could see more shows and kill reruns. Wouldn't that be nice? Anyway, it sounds as if the creators actually have a plan, and without the pressure of keeping the show on the air forever, this could be one of the great shows in television history. If they don't screw it up.

I used to watch some shows on HBO, but Deadwood went away, Carnivàle got the axe, and I was never really into any of the other shows. I did watch the first episode of John From Cincinnati, which has some potential. We'll see.

One more ending has to be mentioned: the NBA season. The Spurs swept the Cavaliers in one of the worst-rated Finals ever, and if the people who vote for MVP had ANY sense of humor, they would have voted for Robert Horry for taking out Steve Nash and basically winning the series for the Spurs over the Suns. Phoenix should have done a better job making sure their players stayed on the bench and they should have used their bench more during the regular season, but I wonder why, in that one instance, David Stern chose to enforce "the letter of the law" instead of giving the Suns some wiggle room, which referees always do in the postseason. It's weird. If the NBA wants to make the playoffs more interesting, there's one thing they need to do: call more fouls. The idea of "letting them play" is idiotic, because that means good players get mugged far more than in the regular season and that means punks like Bruce Bowen are far more important than they deserve to be. Recently, hockey started getting tough on the players in the playoffs, and the game is fine. Basketball is a beautiful game when played well, and I'm sick of hearing about how fundamentally sound teams like the Spurs are. Has anyone seen Phoenix play in the past few years? They spread the ball, the find the open man, the play unselfishly, and somehow they're NOT fundamentally sound? In the playoffs, everyone knows how to beat the Suns: beat them up. Why? The refs "let them play." So what is everyone talking about here since the Suns' elimination? How they need to get "tougher." Good job, NBA. Phoenix may win a championship, but they'll do it playing "Spurs" basketball. And nobody will watch. Remember the 1970s? They showed Finals games on tape-delay, because nobody watched. Who brought the NBA back? Magic and Larry Bird. Two guys who were "fundamentally sound" but really fun to watch. If Magic came into the league today, Bruce Bowen would hack him every time he had the ball, and there would be no Showtime Lakers. But at least they'd be playing "fundamental" basketball. Sheesh.

Sorry for the rant. It still pisses me off. What did everyone think of their favorite shows and how they ended the season?

Well played, Lost writers

Boy, I didn't see that coming.

So, who's in the casket?

So the writers of Lost were sitting around thinking how they could make the show even cooler ...

... and one of them (we'll call him/her the "genius"), said something like:

We need someone wearing a fucking eyepatch.

And the people rejoiced.

Hot chicks need to shut up

Well, it's been some time since a celebrity really needed to shut up, and this week, we have two attractive women who need to zip it. First up in Evangeline Lilly. Yes, Kate from Lost looked good at the Emmys, is happy that her show wasn't nominated, but, as my wonderful wife pointed out, she is grumpy because she's hot. It causes problems in her life. Poor baby!

Shut up, Evangeline!

Then we have Kristin Cavallari, who you may or may not know from Laguna Beach on MTV. Boy, I have watched about five minutes of that show in my life and I thought my brain was going to explode. Anyway, Ms. Cavallari is featured in the latest Blender magazine, and she says:

"Since so many people know who I am and know my business, I can't get away with things I'd normally be able to. And I'm not 21, so going out can be a big issue. Then again, being hot can actually help with that problem, so it's good and bad."

Wow, that's just too bad, Kristin. I feel for you, I really do.

Shut the hell up, why don't you.

Don't these chicks know that I will be dictator one day? Why do they say such stupid things and anger their future leader? WHY????

What I've been reading

Getting Lost: Survival, Baggage and Starting Over in J. J. Abrams' Lost, edited by Orson Scott Card. 260 pages, 2006, Benbella Books.

Unlocking the Meaning of Lost: An Unauthorized Guide by Lynnette Porter and David Lavery. 293 pages, 2006, Sourcebooks, Inc.



I haven't spoken of my love for Lost too often (occasionally, but not too often) because other sites delve into it so much better, while I am content to sit back and enjoy the ride. I don't have six hours a day to devote to watching each episode on TiVo and pause it to spot the Dharma Initiative logo on the shark that menaces Sawyer in the water (of course, when I buy Season Two on DVD I will have to look for it) or to surf the Internet and engage in discussion with other Lostaways about the significance of Watership Down. I just don't have the time, nor, to be honest, the inclination.

However, I love the show, and I love reading about behind-the-scenes entertainment stuff (see here and here), so I thought I'd get these two books before Season 3 started and catch up on my Lost mythology. Both books are very interesting if you're a fan, and I'd recommend them. The first one is better, though.

Getting Lost is a series of essays about various aspects of the show. Card, one of my favorite writers, has a very interesting introduction about why Lost is such a great show. He goes into the history of television and what Lost might mean for the future of TV, and it's very well done. The essays in the book look at theories about the show (is it a video game?) and who the leader of the group might be (not who you think). Most are done with tongue firmly in cheek, which makes them much more entertaining. These are people who obviously love the show but know not to take it too seriously. Therefore Adam Troy-Castro gives us the eerie similarities between the Lost island and another one from a certain 1960s situation comedy. Even with the spirit of jocularity, the writers do treat Lost as a text, and this is a good book about deconstructing that text. Bill Spangler examines the books on the island, including The Third Policeman, which Desmond was reading down in the hatch. The Third Policeman was published in 1937 and sounds like a really neat book. Of course, it has sold a bunch of copies in the past year. We also get longer essays about Atlantis and Lost's Locke connection to the real John Locke, as well as a brief examination of the plane crash by a pilot who tells us the whole thing is ridiculous. The highlight of the book is G. O. Likeskill's essay about trying to connect all the members of the cast in a Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon way. He writes it as a journal, and it's very funny to read as he slowly goes crazy with all the connections. His Holy Grail is Yunjin Kim, who plays Sun. Before Lost she had only appeared in South Korean television and movies, so he has a hard time connecting her. His quest is very humorous. Interestingly enough, for such a large cast, none of the cast members had ever worked together before Lost.

Unlocking the Meaning of Lost is a more standard book in that the authors examine some of the themes of the show and some of its antecedents. It's an interesting book without the irreverence of the first, but the chapters on the texts that influence Lost and the fandom of the show are very good. Porter and Lavery mention some obvious influences (Lord of the Flies, Alias, Cast Away, Robinson Crusoe) and some not so much (The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., Alice in Wonderland, The Stand, The Turn of the Screw, A Wrinkle in Time). The fan chapter at the end of the book is the strongest in it, as the authors delve into the way Lost became an Internet phenomenon before it even aired, with special attention paid to how fans in the spring of 2004 may have saved the show before it began. The chapter also gets into the many theories about the show, and although it seems like the authors take it much more seriously than the essayists in the first book, they do a very good job covering all the many ideas circling cyberspace about the show. It's an interesting chapter to read because it shows how Lost's creators, most notably J. J. Abrams but also Damon Lindelof and the cast, help cultivate the obsessive cult of fans and even conspire with them. Apparently there is even "fake" information on the Internet (I know, shocking), planted by the show's creators to throw people off the scent. Both books do a fine job of showing how this has outgrown a simple television show, but this chapter does it particularly well.

Both books have glossaries, which are very helpful for people like me who don't obsess over the show on-line. There are many things that I have missed about the show, and it will be fun to sit down in the future and watch the DVDs. Lost is a show that demands multiple viewings, and I haven't really had the time to do so. The weakness of the books is, of course, that they were published before the second season ended, so there's a good deal missing from them, especially about The Others (and why that statue has four toes - what's up with that????). That's always the problem with books about ongoing series, and why I usually avoid them until the show is done. But with a show like Lost, there's so much going on that it's good to have a guide. If you're a fan of the show, either one of these books is a good read. The first book is better for esoteric thoughts about the show, while the second is stronger in the nuts-and-bolts way the show is constructed. They're quick reads, too, because they are both so interesting.

Man, I can't wait for the third season. What a good show.

Oh my sweet Lord, Lost is awesome

Not much more to add. Just finished watching tonight's episode. Holy Mother of All That's Holy, that was frickin' cool. Krys guessed what was up with Dave, but she didn't guess the ending. Holy Jeebus. I knew there was a reason I loved this frickin' show.

That is all.