« May, 2006 November, 2006 »

Star-Trek Re-Mastered: Unnecessary

September 27, 2006

We have seen the future, and it looks like the past … but with better music and special effects.

CBS/Paramount Television is celebrating the 40th anniversary of “Star Trek” by digitally re-mastering the original series with all new, state-of-the-art CGI effects and re-recorded music, along with an upgrade to high-definition (HD).

This was an unnecessary move.

“Star Trek” with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, et al, has been a syndication staple for 40 years. It’s one of the most fondly remembered TV series of all time, spawning legions of fans and a dynasty of both big- and small-screen spin-offs, including ten movies and five separate TV series, including an animated version that featured the voices of the original cast. An eleventh movie, slated for 2008 and directed by J. J. Abrams (of “Lost” fame) has been announced.

The newly enhanced version of the series recently debuted on over 200 stations. What did they change? For starters, The Enterprise and all the other starship models have been replaced with CGI. The opening sequence, along with William Shatner’s immortal voiceover, has been recreated. Background scenes, planet and galaxy shots and exteriors in general have been re-created.

Yes, it’s true.

READ MORE > >

I Hated "The West Wing"

September 26, 2006

I saw the post on "Arrested Development" and hunted down this email address from a critic friend who shall also remain nameless. She was glad I was finally going to publish the rant I've been spewing at dinner parties for years. It might give away my identity, but it's a risk I'll take.

I hated "The West Wing."

I don't know Aaron Sorkin personally. I don't care that he was stopped for drugs in the airport in Las Vegas all those years ago. I just can't stand watching any more of his shows.

I liked "Sports Night." It was refreshing, interesting, and brought cleanly to life by its actors. Robert Guilliame, overlooked all those years as “Benson” was finally recognized for his honest genius. It was cancelled quietly, and I see little of it here on your site for a reason - nobody was watching it. "Sports Night" died peacefully in it’s sleep, and was buried like Eleanor Rigby – alone.

Those of us who watched “Sports Night” had to mourn the beginning-career work of Felicity Huffman. On this show, she played a role so complex that Sorkin had to assign the best parts of it to the various women he peppered throughout “The West Wing.”

I'll give Sorkin his women characters – they are absolutely some of the most impossible female characters you will ever find. They don’t make women like Sorkin does, and that is most of the problem here.

READ MORE > >

Who Killed Arrested Development? You did.

September 19, 2006

As a critic, I'm not allowed to say these sorts of things -- but here's one very good reason why there's nothing good on television anymore: When a television show is crafted better than everything else and doesn't pander to its audience --America is too stupid to get it.

It's too easy to blame the suits at Fox for canceling a show, such as “Arrested Development,” that had pitiful ratings. Television doesn't operate on charity, and no matter how much you and five of your friends may have liked the Bluth family, its demise rests on the shoulders of your friends who didn't go to college, or, just didn’t get it.

There was no laugh track. And Americans no longer know how to find anything funny, unless networks tell them when to laugh and for how long.

READ MORE > >