The Gilmore Girls and Other TV Alternatives

[Elianna]

Italiangirl: Last night's episode repeats on TNT at 10pm. At least, it is here, on Pacific time, you might want to check with a tv guide thing, like tv.yahoo.com to make sure of the time in your time zone.



About whether to watch or not, I don't know what to tell you. It was definitely better than the season premiere, because it had a lot less of Phoebe, and Paige really grew on my this episode (red hair is definitely better on RM than the black was). But I still HATE what they're doing with Piper. Pru was my favorite character, too, but Piper was really close, and I continued watching the show for her, but I am just getting really annoyed with the Piper-scared-and-helpless-and-having-to-conquer-that storyline every episode.



~Elianna

It's smarter to be lucky than it's lucky to be smart.
Charlemagne in Pippin

[slowontheuptake]

A good indicator that Alias would be violent was the first ep when the lead was tortured by having her back molars ripped out. hehehehe. I love violence as long as it's apropreate.

BTW. That came full circle at the end of last season when her best friend Will was tortured by the same guy in the same way and Will ended up injecting him with a large dose of potentially lethal truth serum. I was giggling maniacly throughout.

(Pointing out the obvious) This show is definatly not for everyone. And certianly not for kids.

[BBOvenGuy]

I mentioned this on the backup board, but since the main board is back I'll say it again.



Did anyone else catch the Law & Order season premiere this week? It looks like they've been tinkering with Elisabeth Röhm's character over the summer - she came out decidedly less perky and more edgy. I liked it. She also got to destroy this woman-hating "American Taliban" guy on the witness stand. : -->



I'm not sure yet about Fred Thompson replacing Dianne Wiest as the DA - but then I always liked Steven Hill in that spot.

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"A man who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly" - Thomas Merton

[Munchkin]

Sadly, that show has gotten so stagnant & boring for me (IMHO it lost its way after the double blow of Michael Moriarty & Chris Noth's departures from '94/95) that I have but one criteria for watching any new episode nowadays: If J.K. Simmons appears as Dr. Skoda the psychiatrist, 'cuz he's so damned cool to watch with his bald-headed, rubber-faced coolness and Yoda-like wisdom. So much that I can't help but wonder if he'd be perfectly cast as Willow's Dad on BtVS if they ever bother getting decent guest actors again, but I know that's not going to happen.



Because of that, I only tune in for the teaser and the opening credits before the first-act after the commercial break. And if Simmons' name doesn't appear by the time the Guest credits have finished rolled, then I ain't watching. I only wish I were strong enough to heed the same practice concerning another show's absence of another actor which I won't mention any further here, but that's just me. Oh, and I miss Steven Hill, too.



I also never understood why so many TV critics, viewers and fans elsewhere give Elisabeth Rohm a hard time for supposedly being a "poor" actress. From what little I've seen of her, she ain't bad, though L&O's recent writing is so character-unfriendly that I can barely tell the difference. Just last night on Bravo!, I caught the 2nd season rerun in which Det. Mike Logan's (Noth) partner Max Greevy was murdered and Logan coerced a confession from the killer at gunpoint which almost got the case tossed out of court, and there was more real heart, drama and tension in THAT episode than I can recall from the last 3-4 years (let alone another TV series I won't mention by name here.., but I digress).



And as a slight OT aside, last Friday on Showcase Canada, I saw an episode of the HBO-produced prison series Oz in which in lieu of the usual between-scenes narration by the black-guy-in-the-wheelchair Hill, the characters SANG (!!!). And not surprisingly, the highlight for me was a duet which featured the aforementioned Simmons as Schillinger the Evil Nazi. And he was good, as was Rita Moreno (hey, she won an Oscar 40 years ago for West Side Story, so how could she NOT be?). Sure, it didn't make much overall sense, but it was pretty damned amusing to watch. And that's really what it's all about.

________________________



Dave C.

Edited by: Munchkin at: 10/4/02 2:05:38 pm

[BBOvenGuy]

Just a reminder that the Birds of Prey season premiere is this coming Wednesday at 9 on the WB. The new TV Guide raves about it in several different columns.



If you'll recall, I saw the original pilot a couple of months ago. It was pretty good! Definitely worth watching.

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"A man who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly" - Thomas Merton

[Italiangirl]

Oooh! Bob, I am so psyched about this premiere! There is a good sight I've been visiting to get info re:the show until the premiere. I can't remember where I got the link, it may have been here, might have been in one of your posts... but just in case it wasn't, the site is:



Gotham Clock Tower at gothamclocktower.com



They have cast pics, storylines, spoilers, episode stills, and general buzz.



Hopefully, this will renew my love of the sci-fi show. Right now, it is waning.

"You're in my blood like holy wine/ You taste so bitter, and so sweet

Darling, I could drink a case of you/ And still be on my feet;

I would still be on my feet." -Joni Mitchell

[Ben Varkentine]

Opposite The West Wing, drat the luck.

Ben Varkentine

"You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think."--Dorothy Parker

[Wiccagrrl313]

Yeah, big WW fan here, so unless BoP ends up switching nights I'll probably be missing it. Which is a shame, cause it looks pretty good...

Tracy

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VILLOV

I troost yuu. Hurty flurty schnipp schnipp!

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Tara. Accept No Substitutes.

[Killin Joke]

Just saw an ep of Mutant X today (a Dutch friend taped for me, since we haven't got it (yet) in Belgium). Fucking A ! How I've missed a decent portion of girl power lately, with Xena ending and all, Buffy goin' down the drain...

Don't expect an original idea: the mutant idea reminds me of the genetically engineered transgenics from Dark Angel, but by the goddessess: Vicky Pratt (Amazon Queen Cyane in Xena, Sarge in Cleopatra 2525, also in Once a thief...) in action ! Rarrr ! Martial arts, backflips, spinning around,... Not to mention those looks /melt-down/

Ok, so she fell in love head over heels for the first handsome guy (doctor, who thought he'd invented a 'cure', that caused death, attack on a mutant's immunity system)... At least we didn't get attached to him. He was like a redshirt. You feel for Vick's character, though.

Next to her, there's another female cutie, who quite proved herself to the guys, not only by mentally kicking ass, but also fysically in the end. Damn, I needed that again.

The guys are handsome hunks too, there's something for everyone.

Only saw one ep, so I haven't got a clue about the history of the series, how it started, where it's goin' to, if there's gonna be some progress. Guess I'd better ask my friend to tape more episodes.

As for subtext: men are brotherly enough, and the gals seems to take care of each other too: they're a team, so I have hope (not too much -> self-protection, but I'm not ruling anything out for fan fiction la la land )

"Visions dance throughout the night in the pale moon light in the witching hour" (Symphony X)

[ChibiWillowR]

I was just wondering - and I'm embarassed even to ask this - does anyone watch the Anna Nicole show? It's kind of funny, a few weeks ago it was on tv and I was telling my roomate how I couldn't stand these real life shoes and I didn't understand why Anna Nicole even got her own show and how lame it was. But now every sunday I tune in to watch it and I don't know why? I mean, it's really not all that interesting...



Let's see..Other shows..I'm not a really big fan of Charmed, Gilmore Girls or any of the others. Maybe it's b/c I've only seen an ep. or two. I dunno. But I really liked that new show "8 simple rules" w/John Ritter (Ted!). Oh! And Every Saturday I must watch Saturday Night Live and South Park! Can't forget those..



I have such odd tastes...it's sad really.



~*~* Kristy *~*~

[SJ]

Sky are showing Mutant X on Thursdays at 8 pm. from the 17th Oct.

[BBOvenGuy]

I just thought I'd mention this - Gilmore Girls will be on location at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys for the better part of this week. Coincidentally, that's just down the road from the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, where the Buffy crew filmed Dark Magic Willow chasing Buffy, Xander and the nerds with the semi last spring.

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"A man who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly" - Thomas Merton

[Killin Joke]

And you're implying what, Bob... Thank goddesses, we won't see Rory changing into some dark magic evil veiny witch anytime soon: ordinary Halloween's costumes, that won't come alive or anything, is as far as it goes, I bet.

Anyway, after missing two episodes and being pretty pissed about it (stupid changing tv listings and all) I finally sat down today to watch an entire ep. Damn, those characters are so well written. Excellent humourous dialogue, and they feel sooo human: you can really sense that show has a heart.



Doesn't mean I don't miss Tara (and Willow for that matter) /sigh/ While zapping, I found myself watching this British-Canadian series, they show on the Belgian channel Ketnet (kid's channel, that changes into the adult version Canvas, after a certain hour). It's called "Heks Hopeloos", which literally means "Witch Hopeless" Sounds depressing, but it means something like witches doin' unbelievable stuff, while having fun, joking around, etc. Apparently, it was already the 10th ep of the 4th season. I've never heard of it before, but it's kinda like the Harry Potter principle: bunch of boys and girls going to a witches' college (heard the name "Weirdsister" lol), living in a dorm, etc. I saw gothic-like dressed girls, and there was this cute redhead, who seemed to have this gentle expression over her. Heavy Willow Withdrawel Syndromes, I know. Green new age-y clothes. There was even this beautiful gray cat, gorguous tigger. I was thinking about "Miss Kitty Fantastico" (called one of our kittens like that: exactly that type, but we had to give 'm away to friends, because: major allergy alert) Anyway, it's probably childish, but I think I'm gonna do a little bit of research to find out more about it. I'm probably too old for it, but at least on that series, they showed genuine friendship and solidarity between the girls, someone is less likely to die... Take care, precious'

"Visions dance throughout the night in the pale moon light in the witching hour" (Symphony X)

[BBOvenGuy]

I watched Alias again last night. I did more switching over to SG-1 than I did last week, but I still ended up watching the Alias episode all the way through. The "adventure" part of the show seems a bit repetitive and campy to me, as if the series guidelines say "Twice an episode we dress Sydney up in a different costume and have her do a bunch of not-quite-silly action stunts!" The character side is more interesting, especially Syndey's mother. And who doesn't like Terry O'Quinn showing up for his standard "Am I a good guy or am I a bad guy?" routine?

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"A man who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly" - Thomas Merton

[BytrSuite]

I tried to watch Alias. I just can't get into it. I think the characters and actors are great, it's the story that always fails to grab my attention. Sigh, oh well.

————––

"There's a whole lot of singing that's never gonna be heard

Disappearing everyday without so much as a word somehow"

[mollyig]

I watched the first season of Alias when it aired here, my main gripe with it is Will. I can't stand the bugger! Love the music interspersed in the show though, being the music mad Molly I am.

[slowontheuptake]

I get people's gripes with Alias (exept Will who I actualy like). The mission scenes get annoying when there is no reason for her going on them. Is she the only field agent SD6 or the FBI have working for them?

On the other hand I love the swirly spiderwebby storylines and all the charactors who's motives you don't understand. I love the Rembaldi storyline running through the back of everything (although It hasn't been brought up in the new season yet). You get the feeling that this (assumed) long dead prophet is manipulating these people through time to reach a destination only he knows. Thats just entertaining!

[SJ]

The second series of Mutant X is on Sky Monday Oct 14 at 9 pm.

[Arwen]

I'm happy to say I'm watching reruns of Dharma & Greg again. I gave it up for Buffy, because they aired at the same time, but now I'm totally back into it again. I love Jenna Elfman, she's so hilarious, and she and Greg (I can never remember his name) have such great chemistry as a working couple. I've also been watching Will & Grace. It's fun being back into light hearted television, and having a good laugh. Something I missed having with Buffy last season. I haven't caught an episode of Buffy yet this season, and while I miss seeing my Willow, I can't hack it without Tara. I rather like spending my time with them on the PENS board, though.

[Italiangirl]

Okay, okay, I know, I know, I can't stop talking about them.



But tonight, I just have this to say: Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel have fabulous onscreen chemistry!



Tonight's episode was wonderful. I'm really looking forward to watching this whole not going to Harvard thing unfold. Tonight I thought they were definately planting seeds, what with both Lorelei and Rory having separate spasms thinking about the reality of not living together. Their points were made, without having Amy Sherman Palladino dropping big huge anvils on anyone's heads, unlike SOME writers of television shows we know. In addition, both lead actresses turned performances that IMHO earned them spots in the subtle acting hall of fame (particularly the last five minutes).



Also, I am getting a kick out of the thought that Dean might just be ready to up and break up with Rory, especially since now she seems to be all about him again. I think they just have no chemistry. I think about the only thing Dean has chemistry with is tree bark.



Finally, I'm wondering and speculating about how the whole "not going to Harvard" thing will come about. I wonder if Rory will decide not to go because she will miss Lorelei and Stars Hollow too much, or if she will not get accepted for some reason, or maybe at the last minute she will discover that she really wants to pursue something different, ala "the other daughter" on tonight's show. Anyone else have speculation?

"You're in my blood like holy wine/ You taste so bitter, and so sweet

Darling, I could drink a case of you/ And still be on my feet;

I would still be on my feet." -Joni Mitchell

Edited by: Italiangirl  at: 10/8/02 10:12:03 pm

[BBOvenGuy]

I just got done watching here in LA.



I actually looked up a Gilmore Girls location shoot on the eidc shoot sheet and did a drive-by a few weeks ago. It turns out they were shooting at the "Springsteen" house.



The Springsteens themselves made me cringe (especially since I knew some of the answers to the lunchtime quiz ) until we met the "other daughter." She made the episode for me. Well, that and the sight of Emily, Lorelai, Rory and Paris all freaking out at the same time.



And yes, they're already planting the seeds for Rory not to go to Harvard. That's a good sign. They're going to go about it nice and naturally, unlike some shows I could mention.



Best of all, it was almost halfway through the episode before I remembered I wasn't watching Buffy.

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"A man who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly" - Thomas Merton

[Wiccagrrl313]

Yep, very nice ep. And just like you, Bob, I really liked that we met the other daughter.



It was good to see them already starting to deal with the possibility of Rory not going to Harvard. It feels like it's gonna be handled well, with sensitivity and not too traumatically. Remember when we used to be able to expect that kind of thing from Buffy? Sigh.



Anyhow, I'm really getting quite hooked on this series. There's some interesting stuff coming up, I think.

Tracy

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VILLOV

I troost yuu. Hurty flurty schnipp schnipp!

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Tara. Accept No Substitutes.

[slowontheuptake]

I think the Rory/Dean chemistry thing (lack of) is definatly on purpose.

The best thing about the show? Supporting charactors. There is an impressive gaggle of them and they're all cracked.

There's always a background story going. This week Lane finds her soulmate and Luke and Taylor bicker in true Luke/ Taylor style.

I'm glad this show is picking up more fans!

[DestruktorMel]

Just have to say I couldn't stop laughing at the part where Rory and Lorelai were both freaking out about the application process, and then Paris called freaking out about it too. It was the first time I've laughed that hard at a TV show in a loooong time.

[babs]

I was laughing right outloud at the Emily/Lorilei/Rory/Paris freak-fest. That was great. But you know I have been so condition to expecting the worse that when Rory said toward the end that everything would work out and be fine, I almost jumped up and said "Jinx" and expected things to take a dramatic u-turn. Then I caught myself and remembered that Joss doesn't have control over these characters and all would be fine. I did think that the Springsteens were pod people until we met the other daughter. They are laying a great, realistic, subtle foundation to having Rory make the decision to stay closer to home than going Harvard. I don't think those mother-daughter could be seperated if their life depended on it, and thankful, I don't have to worry about that being taken literally. I just wonder what will happen with Paris's college decision. There is so much of her character that is unseen and I, for one look forward to the discovery.

[DestruktorMel]

You're right, they are laying down a very realistic reason for Rory to stay close to home, which makes me happy. Rory and Lorelai just aren't ready to leave each other yet. But the one thing that does concern me is Paris. I really don't see how they could have her go to anywhere but Harvard, unless she doesn't get in. And I don't really know if I want to see what Paris would do if she didn't get in to Harvard. That thought just scares me. But I really hope they don't get rid of her. She's my favorite character next to the Gilmore Girls. Plus, I think she really needs Rory in her life. And in a weird way, Rory needs her too. Can't you just picture them rooming together? They'd drive each other nuts. Hehe.

[BBOvenGuy]

Yes, Rory and Paris simply must be roomies in college. We already got a taste of what that would be like in the season premiere.



Wasn't that guy Paris went out with going to Princeton?

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"A man who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly" - Thomas Merton

[slowontheuptake]

There are rumors (or wild speculation) that Princeton is definatly an option.

The Paris, Rory roomie thing would be hilarious.

There is no way they can dump Paris. I love her. It's likely I'd go into denile if she left anyway.

[BBOvenGuy]

I think Yale is the prohibitive favorite for where Rory ends up. (a) It's the closest Ivy League school to Stars Hollow, (b) her grandfather is an alumnus, and (c) the production company has already obtained permission to film there.



Columbia's also a possibility. They already established last year that Rory can get to Manhattan and back fairly easily, even if it's on a stinky bus.

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"A man who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly" - Thomas Merton

[slowontheuptake]

*blushing*

Disreguard Princton and insert Yale.

I did know that, realy. All ivy league schools blend in my mind until they're indistinguishable.