Showing posts with label Smallville. Show all posts

3/4 Relief from the CW

Well, the CW eased my mind today as it released its early series pick-ups. 3 out of the 4 shows I watch on the network have been picked up for another season next year. My picks that are getting another season include: Smallville (season 8), Supernatural (season 4), and Gossip Girl (season 2). I'm still holding out hope for Reaper and wondering if the execs are right about picking up new viewers by moving its reruns to Supernatural's normal Thursday night slot. Only time will tell.

For a full list of the CW's early bird picks, check out the CW Blog.
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Winning the Lottery and Super Powers

Not a day goes by that I don't win an international lottery. Hundreds of millions of dollars tempt me each day when I check my spam folder. If I actually cashed in on all of them, I could buy and sell the people sending them. Alas, it's only spam.

I've been watching a lot of Smallville the past couple of weeks, and it's been creating a huge internal dialogue in me about why I gravitate toward superheroes and other archetypes for entertainment. Let me preface this by discussing how I came to like certain super characters.

Spider-man and Batman are also up there with Superman for me. (I know, pick the three with the biggest following why don't I?) Spidey and Batman were first introduced to me through drugstore comics I would pick up and browse while I was waiting for the shopping trip to be over. Having suckled at the He-Man teat during my formative years, the concepts of super powers and secret identities were old familiar turf by this time. With comics being designated as a "guy" activity, I found out more about these two through animated series, which was an acceptable form of entertainment for a young girl. The original Batman live action series was also being run on Nick at Night at the same time, so I was able to see Adam West portray the characters through a myriad of "WHA-AM"s and "KA-POW"s. Then came the Michael Keaton movies, that rooted Batman as one of my favorite characters. The part I liked best about him was that he used devices rather than real powers.

A few years later, my family tuned into The Adventures of Lois and Clark. Dean Cain became Super-man and had to deal with human dilemmas and saving the world. Up to this point, I kind of thought Super-man was a tool (sorry original movie fans). Reeves did a good job of portraying the character he was given, but the character was weak. He was too plastic and alien to see any qualities that I myself might possess. He wasn't human and it felt alien. Then the live action series of Lois and Clark came along. Cain made Super-man human. The writers showed the turmoil and human emotion that the plastic Super-man of the movies lacked. I could finally relate to the character and I was sold.

Recently, there have been more movies depicting these characters. The Spider-man movies let me connect with Spidey on this same human level the cartoons lacked. The Batman prequel revived my interest in a character I gave up for dead when Kilmer took over. Then, thanks to the D-train, I was fully exposed to two great episodes of Smallville (season 5 finale, season six premiere). I was willing to go back and put up with the awkward first season freak-of-the-week episodes and thanks to DVD could ignore those plots in favor of the longer character-evolving story arcs. I could relate to this Super-man and was excited to see him Return in a movie. Unfortunately, the movie was another plastic caricature. A much better plastic man than the previous films thanks to more realistic special effects, but still an alien with which I could not empathize. So I decided to stick with the Super-man I liked - on TV.

I was rewarded when the Smallville sixth season DVD came out. I had missed the Oliver Queen story arc due to a lack of DVR and catching up in the series on DVD. Imagine my surprise when I found that of all the characters I'd known so far, the one I could relate to best was the Green Arrow because he lived in the real world, or at least a much realer and uglier world than the others. I've always had a penchant for gray characters.

This is when I discovered that my super power may be extreme empathy. I can only relate to characters that I can understand well. I need to be able to put myself in their position and see their motives for the actions they take.

At times, this power is also my weakness, especially when I leave the fantasy realm of entertainment and watch comedy or drama. Sometimes it's physically painful for me to see characters embarrassed or hurt. My mortification sets in before they even stumble into the situations that cause their pain.

I'm not sure why this is. I, like most people I know, had my own moments of awkwardness or embarrassment when I was younger, but nothing like the deep-seeded mortification or embarrassment I feel when I watch characters walk in to these situations completely unaware of what awaits them. Sometimes I find that my reaction is much stronger than their reaction, and I wonder why this is.

I also wonder why so many writers love to put people in these kinds of situations over and over again. Yes, some humiliation is good for character growth, but sometimes it's way over the top of what it needs to be - probably to heighten the viewer's reaction and emphasize the trauma of the event. I would love to see more scenes where the humiliation factor builds, but then, like many times in real life, the others who could laugh don't because they're too polite. Sure not seeing that on reality TV.

Now if only my super power could have been to cash in on those lottery winnings for real...
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DCN!!!!!!!!

As always, I am the Dtrain with your latest fix of Dorky Comic News. (Disclaimer: by saying “latest fix,” Dtrain may or may not promote drug use.) This edition was going to be about one of the comics I read, and why you should too. However, a lot of stuff happened as it pertains to TV and movies, that my propaganda to get you to rush to the nearest comic shop will have to wait. Let’s get to it.

Last Thursday was the season finale of Smallville. I wish I could go into more detail about it, but I am not sure whoever is reading this is a fan of the show, and has not seen it yet. (Although, if you are a true fan, you’d have seen it. You jerks.) All that I can say is that is was a very BIZZARE ending. For those of you that get what that meant, leave me a message telling me what it is and your free DCN T-shirt will be in the mail.

On Saturday, those of you that frequent superherohype.com got to see the first picture of Heath Ledger as the Joker from next summers The Dark Knight. That’s Batman Begins 2 for those of you that need to catch up. From the looks of it, this version is going to shy away from the cartoony and campiness that the Joker has brought to the comics, as well as the first movie. Nolan (director) is going for a more realistic, sadistic version. He did not do the fans wrong with the first movie, and I can’t see him doing wrong here.

Last but not least, the finale of the best show on television that is not Smallville also ended this past Monday. (For those of you that thought The Bachelor, you are no longer allowed to DCN. Please leave. NOW. I’m serious. Get out of here. Not kidding here, guys. Ummm, other random comment to make the joke last too long and get tired. OUT!!) For the rest of you, I am talking about Heroes. This show was 23 episodes this season, and every one of them ruled. Each ending was a cliffhanger, and the finale gave resolution to the story. It left you with questions, but not enough to feel unsatisfied with the ending. And the epilogue, with Hiro, doesn’t act as a cliffhanger for the current story, but as a great starting point for next year. If only the writers of Lost could have done a show that well, they might have kept me as a fan, instead of boring me to death last season that I had no other choice but file the show in my “wait for the show to end, then watch it on DVD” file.

That brings me to both the end of the column, as well as a question: What shows on DVD do you watch? I want to know, because I want to write about them. Please realize that some of you might get made fun of, but c’mon. DCN isn’t known for its seriousness. (Actually, it’s not known for anything. I put it on myspace. Whoopee.) Anyway, write me a message with what TV shows on DVD you are currently watching, and that’s what DCN will be about next time. Well, that, or it’ll be a rant about none of you responded and that you all suck. We’ll have to see.

P.S. Can’t deny you what I promised: The Ultimates. Get the Graphic Novels. You’ll be glad you did.
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