Well, another show like Smallville has announced its farewell season which is due to launch next year - and which gives fans time to cope with the separation anxiety. Considerate of them - as it can be traumatic to follow one series, invest yourself emotionally in its characters and storyline, and then find yourself facing the cold grave of cancellation at the end of the journey. (Think Journeyman.)
This time, Showtime's serise on the loves, lunacies, and lecheries of Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) will just have one more season - its fourth and then no more. After three seasons which have seen political intrigue that literally rocked nations, split a Church, sent sinners and saints to the gallows, and women and wives changed as if the young lusty king were changing wardrobes, the producers are calling it quits.
It's not because of ratings - The Tudors still brings in 1 million viewers each episode. But it is costly to produce - given its resplendent recreation of 16th century England. This is the era when monarchs rule with almost absolute power and the will of the people and their rights aren't on the agenda.
Still, Henry's reign won't end abruptly. In just that remaining season of ten episodes, producers will have to squeeze in the state of affairs that shook England as he took his last two wives. Tudors season 4 won't be pretty - the producers have described it as Henry VIII's descent into madness.
It's the kind of stuff that TVdom will try to resurrect. According to the grapevine, the network is looking at a modern re-telling of the Borgias, a Sicilian ruling family of corrupt popes and byzantine blackmailing that makes Henry's reign look like a family squabble.
Season 3:
Season 4, the last of the Tudors:
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Cancelled U.S. shows
Lost isn't the only fan favorite that will be saying its goodbye to its faithful fanbase. There are a few others which aren't just popular or long-running but set the bar higher for what became golden television.
Law and Order, which rivals (and started earlier than) CSI when it came to series-franchies building, will finally have its last perp arrested, its last case tried, and its last debate between idealistic prosecutor and hardened cops finally argued. After 20 years and a series of cast changes, it is time to finally say goodbye. My own favorite incarnation of Law and Order has Assistant D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) hammering away against criminals at the dock while providing a moral fulcrum to his team amidst the political and legal storms surrounding them.
Fortunately, Law and Order is survived by the indomitable Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, which has the dynamic duo of Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and Benson (Marita Hargitay) tag-teaming to bring pedophiles, rapists, snuff artists, and other perverse wackoes to justice.
After 8 life-threatening ordeals, each happenign witin the span of 24 hours, one-man army Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is finally calling it quits. After seeing his wife murdered, his best friend die in the line of duty, another best friend turn traitor, who can blame him? The producers of 24 said they wanted to quit while they were ahead - but we can't just write off Jack yet.
He'll continue to fight terrorists, but this time in 24 adaptations for the big screen. Not sure how they can squeeze real-time drama in just 2 hours, but I'm fine with it. Anything to see Jack back in fighting form.
And while Smallville is returning for the tenth season, the producers have said it'll be their last - and hopefully their best. I can understand the logic here. We've seen the evolution of Clark Kent since the series introduced him first to us as an insecure kid trying to hide a big screen. We've seen him grow more comfortable with his powers, create a network of his own super-powered allies, stared evil in the face time and again, outgrew Lana Lang to fall in love with Lois Lane, balanced his twin lives between adopted Earth farm boy and Kryptonian prince.
Now all he needs to do is don the famous-red-and-blue to become Superman as this famous fan manipulation shows.
Smallville's tenth season finale is a show not to miss. We've waited long enough.
Law and Order, which rivals (and started earlier than) CSI when it came to series-franchies building, will finally have its last perp arrested, its last case tried, and its last debate between idealistic prosecutor and hardened cops finally argued. After 20 years and a series of cast changes, it is time to finally say goodbye. My own favorite incarnation of Law and Order has Assistant D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) hammering away against criminals at the dock while providing a moral fulcrum to his team amidst the political and legal storms surrounding them.
Fortunately, Law and Order is survived by the indomitable Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, which has the dynamic duo of Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and Benson (Marita Hargitay) tag-teaming to bring pedophiles, rapists, snuff artists, and other perverse wackoes to justice.
After 8 life-threatening ordeals, each happenign witin the span of 24 hours, one-man army Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is finally calling it quits. After seeing his wife murdered, his best friend die in the line of duty, another best friend turn traitor, who can blame him? The producers of 24 said they wanted to quit while they were ahead - but we can't just write off Jack yet.
He'll continue to fight terrorists, but this time in 24 adaptations for the big screen. Not sure how they can squeeze real-time drama in just 2 hours, but I'm fine with it. Anything to see Jack back in fighting form.
And while Smallville is returning for the tenth season, the producers have said it'll be their last - and hopefully their best. I can understand the logic here. We've seen the evolution of Clark Kent since the series introduced him first to us as an insecure kid trying to hide a big screen. We've seen him grow more comfortable with his powers, create a network of his own super-powered allies, stared evil in the face time and again, outgrew Lana Lang to fall in love with Lois Lane, balanced his twin lives between adopted Earth farm boy and Kryptonian prince.
Now all he needs to do is don the famous-red-and-blue to become Superman as this famous fan manipulation shows.
Smallville's tenth season finale is a show not to miss. We've waited long enough.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Lost finale spoilers
If you don't know what to know what happened in the U.S. showing of Lost's finale episode, STOP reading now.
I'm just posting this for my own sanity as well as for others like me who live on the other side of the world - and will probably wait months before we can catch this on live TV.
I won't post the spoilers in detail - just the few big ones that matter.
HERE WE GO. SPOILERS OF THE LOST FINALE.
Jack dies. Yes, our beloved idealistic doctor bites the bullet. But he does so heroically, with Kate's help, saving his friends and the island from....\
The Black Smoke monster who incarnated using Locke's body or probably imitated it.
The island still needs a caretaker - and Hurley volunteers.
There is a grand reunion at the end - and based on the posts I've read, it's one touching moment where everyone gathers because all of them has to move on....
Why? Because the island is an alternative universe where souls of the dead have to redeem themselves before they are allowed passage to their next phase in the afterlife (reincarnation, Heaven, Hell, take your pick...)
I'll still watch it - because of the emotional pay-off and none of the words i say here or you read in other sites will capture the emotional and dramatic power of the finale where everyone finally comes to grips with who they are and what they had been experiencing all this time.
How did the producers promote the season 6 finale?
Destiny.
Indeed.
I'm just posting this for my own sanity as well as for others like me who live on the other side of the world - and will probably wait months before we can catch this on live TV.
I won't post the spoilers in detail - just the few big ones that matter.
HERE WE GO. SPOILERS OF THE LOST FINALE.
Jack dies. Yes, our beloved idealistic doctor bites the bullet. But he does so heroically, with Kate's help, saving his friends and the island from....\
The Black Smoke monster who incarnated using Locke's body or probably imitated it.
The island still needs a caretaker - and Hurley volunteers.
There is a grand reunion at the end - and based on the posts I've read, it's one touching moment where everyone gathers because all of them has to move on....
Why? Because the island is an alternative universe where souls of the dead have to redeem themselves before they are allowed passage to their next phase in the afterlife (reincarnation, Heaven, Hell, take your pick...)
I'll still watch it - because of the emotional pay-off and none of the words i say here or you read in other sites will capture the emotional and dramatic power of the finale where everyone finally comes to grips with who they are and what they had been experiencing all this time.
How did the producers promote the season 6 finale?
Destiny.
Indeed.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Lost questions I want answered - in the Lost finale
After 6 seasons, Lost is finally calling it quits - and that while it's still ahead, while its ratings continue to skyrocket, and while it remains one of the most popular shows on TV with a cult following that rivals TV legends like Star Trek. Expect slam-dunk ratings for the Lost finale.
More than just a TV hit, prestigious publications like Time Magazine have labeled it a groundbreaker, a show that broke all boundaries and revolutionzed the industry with an idea - namely that science-fiction, serials, mythology, psychology, and iconic references to other popular phenomenon can draw in a huge number of *thinking* audience week in and week out.
Honestly, after season 3, Lost lost me. I couldn't undertsand anymore why there were flash-forwards or how some of the Oceania 12 finally were rescued and that, a few months later, they felt the compulsion to go back because it "was their destiny." I also didn' have a clue as to why the island disappeared and why creepy Ben felt it a duty to hurl the entire island down a time-space continuum.
But one thing I did notice is that, everytime I caught the show on cable, I'd be drawn in by the questions that these impossible situations posed. And that, no matter how long a time had transpired since I saw my last episode, the characters still mattered to me. Seriously. More important than the origin of the island, I wanted to know who Kate would end up with; if the Korean couple would reunite; would Sawyer finally escape his past; and who would finally win as leader of the castaways, John or Jack?
The characters stranded on that mysterious island were ensnared in a web of past bad decisions - and they had to find redemption. And that was the heart of the show, not the Dharma Group, or Ben's Wizard-of-Oz shenanigans.
Still, having said that, there are questions I'd like the producers to answer during the Lost finale:
1. Why exactly did the Dharma Group settle on the island? What experiemnts were they conducting?
2. Is the island even vaguely alive? How did they choose the 'castaways' who crashed on its shores?
3. What's this thing about Jacob and his twin?
4. Why did everyone had to go back to their past?
5. Why was it important for the main charaters to see glimpses of their alternate realities?
And of course, who lives, who dies, and who finally goes home?
And what happens to that freaking island???
More than just a TV hit, prestigious publications like Time Magazine have labeled it a groundbreaker, a show that broke all boundaries and revolutionzed the industry with an idea - namely that science-fiction, serials, mythology, psychology, and iconic references to other popular phenomenon can draw in a huge number of *thinking* audience week in and week out.
Honestly, after season 3, Lost lost me. I couldn't undertsand anymore why there were flash-forwards or how some of the Oceania 12 finally were rescued and that, a few months later, they felt the compulsion to go back because it "was their destiny." I also didn' have a clue as to why the island disappeared and why creepy Ben felt it a duty to hurl the entire island down a time-space continuum.
But one thing I did notice is that, everytime I caught the show on cable, I'd be drawn in by the questions that these impossible situations posed. And that, no matter how long a time had transpired since I saw my last episode, the characters still mattered to me. Seriously. More important than the origin of the island, I wanted to know who Kate would end up with; if the Korean couple would reunite; would Sawyer finally escape his past; and who would finally win as leader of the castaways, John or Jack?
The characters stranded on that mysterious island were ensnared in a web of past bad decisions - and they had to find redemption. And that was the heart of the show, not the Dharma Group, or Ben's Wizard-of-Oz shenanigans.
Still, having said that, there are questions I'd like the producers to answer during the Lost finale:
1. Why exactly did the Dharma Group settle on the island? What experiemnts were they conducting?
2. Is the island even vaguely alive? How did they choose the 'castaways' who crashed on its shores?
3. What's this thing about Jacob and his twin?
4. Why did everyone had to go back to their past?
5. Why was it important for the main charaters to see glimpses of their alternate realities?
And of course, who lives, who dies, and who finally goes home?
And what happens to that freaking island???
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Jollibee in Glee, Ewoks speak Tagalog
By now, almost every Pinoy on the planet must have heard about or seen Jollibee's facade accidentally (or maybe not) providing a background to a dance number in Glee, the U.S. pseudo-musical series that is a virtual spin-off of High School Musical.
Reminds me of other - and grimmer - scenes when a Filipino was caught accidentally or betaryed his nationality unintentionally (and sometimes weirdly) in other U.S. shows.
Then there's an episode in Banged Abroad, National Geographic's re-enactment of true-to-life stories of First World citizens spending years in the harshest prisons in other countries either because they were framed or were caught in doing something illegal. In one episode, one such Aussie was framed and had to spend a decade in a Mexican American jail. The locals and actual prison looked convincing enough - until the main character had to be rushed out of his cell and into the clinic as he was suffering critical wounds from an assault. Then you hear the other characters - the nurses, the doctors, the other prisoners - yelling in Tagalog (not Mexican) to either run for help, clear the way, or pray for the dying man.
True enough, when the end credits rolled, acknowledgment was given to a certain prison located in Rizal. The prison scenes were obviously shot in the Philippines, not Mexico - and nobody bothered to check that the real-life prison personnel who were doubling as actors should speak in Mexican, not Tagalog.
Then there's the now classic story of a few Ewoks (remember them?) muttering Tagalog complaints in Return of the Jedi. First time I saw this as a college student in a movie house in the 1980s, my friends and I froze. Imagine underneath all that murmuring, a few clear Tagalog sentences came out - no, they weren't mistakes that were mumbles, they were Tagalog spoken consciously and clearly: "Ayun, puno daw ito!" "Ay, ang ganda!' Translation: "Hey, this is supposed to be a tree!" "It's cute!"
Methinks there were a couple of Pinoy extras cast in Lucasland.
Check this out:
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Why Heroes was cancelled
According to the latest news from Hollywood, the superhero series Heroes was cancelled for two reasons: a) low ratings (a good enough reason to pull the plug) and b) high costs.
So...what happened? How can the show which was on everyone's must-see list only four seasons ago was given the shaft? How can the series be cut in mid-stride and leave forever unresolved the fates of such unforgettable charactesrs as the mutant cannibal Sylar, the self-righteous human spy Noah Bennett, the quirky time-traveller Hiro, and the conflicted clan of the Petrellis who was responsible for setting up the stage for the creation and proliferation of these super-powered outcasts?
Like the Manny Villar ads, it's too much of a good (or bad) thing. The Heroes storyline got more lost than Lost (another show by its producers, btw) when it got obsessed with building and rebuilding the world and origins of these mutants to the point that the structure became a labyrinth which confused the readers with its twists and turns?
True, the storyline on a world gone bad after one mutant screwed up in the first season was disturbing - and compelling. Who could forget the episode where angelic Peter finally became kick-ass and nuked it out with Sylar in a life-or-death battle?
But the producers kept milking that storyline for all its worth. We kept going back to a dark future that's either incinerated by a nuclear holocaust, or devastated by a plague. And it's always a world where mutants or people with powers are hunted down, killed, or thrown like cattle in concentration camps.
If I keep mentioning mutants, it's not accidental - there's a lot that Heroes has borrowed from X-Men including that alternative universe which always ends in mutants (ok, people with powers) being treated with the Final Solution.
It became tiring. And the producers were so focused on this grim tale that they forgot why Heroes clicked in the first place - it was the optimism of the show, the delightful discovery that a cheerleader or a simple male nurse can suddenly realize her immortality or his capability to adopt the abilties of others? It was Mr. Joe-becoming-Superman that made Heroes a fun show to watch. That was why it was called Heroes.
By third season, the optimism was gone - and the people with powers were just on the run for survival. And the audience (like me) stopped tuning in.
So...what happened? How can the show which was on everyone's must-see list only four seasons ago was given the shaft? How can the series be cut in mid-stride and leave forever unresolved the fates of such unforgettable charactesrs as the mutant cannibal Sylar, the self-righteous human spy Noah Bennett, the quirky time-traveller Hiro, and the conflicted clan of the Petrellis who was responsible for setting up the stage for the creation and proliferation of these super-powered outcasts?
Like the Manny Villar ads, it's too much of a good (or bad) thing. The Heroes storyline got more lost than Lost (another show by its producers, btw) when it got obsessed with building and rebuilding the world and origins of these mutants to the point that the structure became a labyrinth which confused the readers with its twists and turns?
True, the storyline on a world gone bad after one mutant screwed up in the first season was disturbing - and compelling. Who could forget the episode where angelic Peter finally became kick-ass and nuked it out with Sylar in a life-or-death battle?
But the producers kept milking that storyline for all its worth. We kept going back to a dark future that's either incinerated by a nuclear holocaust, or devastated by a plague. And it's always a world where mutants or people with powers are hunted down, killed, or thrown like cattle in concentration camps.
If I keep mentioning mutants, it's not accidental - there's a lot that Heroes has borrowed from X-Men including that alternative universe which always ends in mutants (ok, people with powers) being treated with the Final Solution.
It became tiring. And the producers were so focused on this grim tale that they forgot why Heroes clicked in the first place - it was the optimism of the show, the delightful discovery that a cheerleader or a simple male nurse can suddenly realize her immortality or his capability to adopt the abilties of others? It was Mr. Joe-becoming-Superman that made Heroes a fun show to watch. That was why it was called Heroes.
By third season, the optimism was gone - and the people with powers were just on the run for survival. And the audience (like me) stopped tuning in.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Station ID
What's in a logo - or a name?
Our friends in advertising will say it's everything - it has to be the perfect (as much as you can make it) represenation of your company's identity, objectives, mission, personality.
But sometimes, without totally changing the logo, a company can just fine-tune it a bit, modernize it, make it trendy to reach an entirely new generation. Remember when National Book Store changed its logo - and notice now how venerable, redoubtable BPI is making theirs brighter, lighter, sunnier?
The same applies to cable channels. Without going much into images, chances are a channel's name will or should embody the kind of shows it brings to its audience. Cable channels, after all, is about niche entertainment - it offers one paricular, specialized genre in all its many varieties in just one number; this is what separates it from free-for-all free TV.
Just take a rundown of your favorite channels:
AXN - action at its best
HBO - box-office movies right where you live
Velvet - sleeky, stylish, naughty, the kind of entertainment that you'd like to watch before you go to sleep and carry with you in your dreams.
Crime and Investgiation - it's self-explanatory
And yes, cable channels have to reinvent themselves, too. Cinemax had already carved a notorious name as the hub of B-movies and forgettable thrillers until it re-branded itself as Maxx! for maximum entertainment and enjoyment.
Sci-fi Channel, too, captured the niche audience of lovers of specualtive shows until its own archaic programming (old series, TV movies, grade Z sci-fi films) killed it and its competition went to AXN Beyond. To be upfront, I was one of the few who anxiously waited for Sci-fi Channel to make its debut in Philippine airwaves - only to be disappointed with its paltry offerings.
The weakness must also have been present in the other overseas branches of Sci-Fi Channel. It just re-booted itself a few months ago to call itself Sy Fy - intimating that it's more hip, dynamic, enterprising, inventive, and with a name like that, supposedly pushes is boundaries.
What's in a name, right?
Our friends in advertising will say it's everything - it has to be the perfect (as much as you can make it) represenation of your company's identity, objectives, mission, personality.
But sometimes, without totally changing the logo, a company can just fine-tune it a bit, modernize it, make it trendy to reach an entirely new generation. Remember when National Book Store changed its logo - and notice now how venerable, redoubtable BPI is making theirs brighter, lighter, sunnier?
The same applies to cable channels. Without going much into images, chances are a channel's name will or should embody the kind of shows it brings to its audience. Cable channels, after all, is about niche entertainment - it offers one paricular, specialized genre in all its many varieties in just one number; this is what separates it from free-for-all free TV.
Just take a rundown of your favorite channels:HBO - box-office movies right where you live
History Channel - it's about the lessons taught us in all the events that transpired through the ages
Velvet - sleeky, stylish, naughty, the kind of entertainment that you'd like to watch before you go to sleep and carry with you in your dreams.
Crime and Investgiation - it's self-explanatory
And yes, cable channels have to reinvent themselves, too. Cinemax had already carved a notorious name as the hub of B-movies and forgettable thrillers until it re-branded itself as Maxx! for maximum entertainment and enjoyment.
Sci-fi Channel, too, captured the niche audience of lovers of specualtive shows until its own archaic programming (old series, TV movies, grade Z sci-fi films) killed it and its competition went to AXN Beyond. To be upfront, I was one of the few who anxiously waited for Sci-fi Channel to make its debut in Philippine airwaves - only to be disappointed with its paltry offerings.
The weakness must also have been present in the other overseas branches of Sci-Fi Channel. It just re-booted itself a few months ago to call itself Sy Fy - intimating that it's more hip, dynamic, enterprising, inventive, and with a name like that, supposedly pushes is boundaries.
What's in a name, right?
Friday, May 14, 2010
American presidents on film
U.S. presidents, to be exact. Taking a breather from our own electoral exercise that recently spawned a debate on the use of political ads, here's a rundown on how the American president has been portrayed in various ways on celluloid.
The American President (1995), directed by Rob Reiner. Politics takes a back seat as widowed and extremely popular President Andrew Shephard (played by a dashing Michael Douglas) falls for and courts a very liberal and independent environmental advocate (Annette Benning). The bad guy in this movie is a Republican senator (Richard Dreyfuss) who pounces on the budding romance to criticize Shephard for his supposed lack of morality. What the president is guilty of is indecision - which his speech writer (Michael Fox) points out to him in an impassioned speech that almost steals the thunder away from Douglas' charm and touching resolve.
Air Force One (1997), directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Your American president can't get more heroic than this. Harrison Ford's President James Marshall is a war veteran, an enemy of terrorism, and a devoted husband and father. So when his titular plane is hijacked, he stays on the plane to rescue his family hostaged by Russian terrorists led by Gary Oldman. Naturally, he saves the rest of the passengers as well. Yet for all of Marshall's kick-ass moves, the most memorable scene in the movie was played by an unnamed fighter pilot - he literally takes the bullet for his Chief Executive by using his weaponless plane to shield Air Force One against a barrage of missiles that enemy aircraft had launched against it.
Air Force One (1997), directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Your American president can't get more heroic than this. Harrison Ford's President James Marshall is a war veteran, an enemy of terrorism, and a devoted husband and father. So when his titular plane is hijacked, he stays on the plane to rescue his family hostaged by Russian terrorists led by Gary Oldman. Naturally, he saves the rest of the passengers as well. Yet for all of Marshall's kick-ass moves, the most memorable scene in the movie was played by an unnamed fighter pilot - he literally takes the bullet for his Chief Executive by using his weaponless plane to shield Air Force One against a barrage of missiles that enemy aircraft had launched against it. 
Frost / Nixon (2008), directed by Ron Howard - this is as real as it can get. Frank Langella in an award-nominated performance does the amazing job of humanizing former President Richard Nixon, portraying him as a shrewd, ambitious leader far from the buffoon that everyone caricatured him to be, and yet driven by his own demons to make ethically questionable decisions. The other person in the title is British broadcaster David Frost (Michael Sheen) who initially starts out as a journalistic joke - the buffoon, actually - but facing public humiliation and the crash of his own career, transforms into the broadcaster who, on live TV, does the one thing that none of his more respectable peers acheived: force Nixon publicly to admit his complicity and accountability in the disaster that was Watergate.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tagline for movies on TV
Sometimes, it's the tagline that gets you - next to the image in the poster, and prior to watching the trailer. Granted that this happens during the advertisement of the movie and way before it gets filtered into cable. But the tagline remains. And makes you remember the movie with enough fondness to schedule yourself for a viewing when it finally airs on cable.
The best taglines are the ones that are real - that actually live up to the hype surrounding the film. More important, they capture the heart of the film. They are what the film is about.
Now from an old science-fiction classic that revolutionized the genre for cinema way back in 1979:
"In space, no one can hear you scream." - Alien (how could you, with those monsters jumping for your throat before you even make a sound...
Then, Superman (1978)..."You'll believe a man can fly!" Back then, the late, great Christopher Reeve soaring through a cinematic canvas, strapped on wires, was state-of-the-art special effects.
And when ghosts raid your house..."Who you gonna call?" The Ghostbusters, of course (1984).
Tom Hanks radios, "Houston, we have a problem..." and everyone is on edge watching to see if Apollo 13 (1995) will land or burn through the stratosphere.
And of course, the famous prelude to a cosmic saga that has been parodied ad nauseam: Star Wars' (1977) "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."
The best taglines are the ones that are real - that actually live up to the hype surrounding the film. More important, they capture the heart of the film. They are what the film is about.
Now from an old science-fiction classic that revolutionized the genre for cinema way back in 1979:
Then, Superman (1978)..."You'll believe a man can fly!" Back then, the late, great Christopher Reeve soaring through a cinematic canvas, strapped on wires, was state-of-the-art special effects.
And when ghosts raid your house..."Who you gonna call?" The Ghostbusters, of course (1984).
Tom Hanks radios, "Houston, we have a problem..." and everyone is on edge watching to see if Apollo 13 (1995) will land or burn through the stratosphere.
And of course, the famous prelude to a cosmic saga that has been parodied ad nauseam: Star Wars' (1977) "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."
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