On TV

I’m a huge, huge fan of Project Runway. It’s one of the few reality shows where you actually have to have some serious talent to win, and I always look forward to see what the challenges are and how the designers will step up to meet them. It’s so fierce! 😎

So, I was excited to see the fourth season come to an end this week. Did I think Christian deserved to win? Yes and no. He was certainly more inventive than Rami throughout the course of the season, but I liked Rami’s final collection the best. Loved the bright colors and the woven details in Rami’s collection — and best of all, they looked like real clothes normal-sized women could wear. Christian’s clothes? I don’t know who would or where you could wear them — except to a costume party.

But I think Christian needed to win more, and the judges rewarded him for his season-long efforts. So, I’m okay with the result.

Mainly, though, I’m sad the show is over. I’m going to miss my weekly dose of Tim Gunn, wacky challenges, and stressed designers. I think I need some chocolate to tide me over until the show comes back on (please, Bravo, let there be a fall cycle this year).

How about you? Are you missing the runway?

So, I’ve been watching the new season of Lost.

Ugh.

That’s my take on things. I had such high hopes for this season, that we were finally going to get some answers, that some things (like the Jack-Kate-Sawyer love triangle) were finally going to be resolved. Instead, they’ve only gotten more convoluted.

Because now, there’s some sort of giant conspiracy afoot that six of the survivors are in on together, claiming they’re the only survivors of the plane crash.

Ugh.

Holly Black had an interesting post up at Fangs, Fur, & Fey yesterday talking about things that drive her crazy as a fan of a book, TV series, movie, etc. Too many unanswered questions is one that bugs me — as does abruptly, fundamentally changing what a show is about.

I’m wondering if that’s what happened to Lost. J.J. Abrams did this to some degree in Alias. Midway through season 2, he had Sydney Bristow take down her evil employer and quit being a double agent. I remember reading somewhere Abrams simply got tired of writing Sydney as a double agent almost getting caught every week. So, he changed things. And the show suffered for it. Not as dramatically as Lost has, but Alias stumbled after that, looking for a suitable bad guy for Sydney to fight (because her boss was supposed to be the worst of the worst). Alias didn’t recapture the glory of its first season until season 5 (although parts of season 3 were pretty awesome).

I’m not saying things can’t change, that characters can’t grow and learn, but Lost has come so far from its original premise of castaways struggling to survive, I doubt it can ever recover. There are just so many dangling questions and plot threads, I don’t think they can all be answered in the 40-some episodes that are left.

What’s the monster? Where did the Others go? What ever happened to the other island where Jack, Kate, and Sawyer were held? What’s the Dharma group’s real purpose? Why do pregnant women die on the island? What’s the deal with the creepy cabin? Where did the eye-patch man go? And on, and on, and on …

I imagine the rest of this season will involve finding out what the conspiracy is about. Next year might be the consequences, and I imagine the final season will offer some sort of resolution to the whole mess. One can only hope.

Also, I really hate what they’ve done to the characters, especially Locke. He used to be the coolest, most interesting character on the island (the episode where we found out he was in a wheelchair was probably the show’s best moment). But now, he’s a caricature who’s “protecting the island” — the island, not his fellow survivors. Jack is so self-righteous I hope they kill him off. And why doesn’t somebody just shoot Ben already? The man’s a snake, and they all know it. 

I’ll still watch Lost. At this point, I’ve got too much time invested in it not to see how things turn out. But do I really care anymore? No.

What about you? Are you still digging Lost?

So, I’m assuming just about everybody watched the Super Bowl last night. One of the best games I’ve seen in a long time. Congrats to the Giants, who just flat out-played the Patriots. The Giants wanted it more, and they earned it. How about that play in the fourth quarter where Eli avoids getting sacked and throws that big pass down the field? That’ll be on the highlight reels for a while.

Now, on to what really mattered — the commercials.

Overall, I was pretty underwhelmed by the commercials this year. It seemed to be the usual mix of car and beer commercials I’d already seen with nothing really funny or spectacular. But there were a few gems. Here are my favorites:

1) The Clydesdales. They always, always have the best commercials. This time, a horse who was passed over for the team got a dalmatian trainer and started working out for next year — all to the theme song from Rocky. Funny stuff.

2) The balloons. The commercial where Underdog and the other balloon chase the Coke through the New York skyline during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade was very sweet — especially since Charlie Brown finally gets the Coke at the end. :joe:

3) Iron Man. Among the movie commercials, this one looked the coolest (although the ones with Will Ferrell were funny, in a train-wreck sort of way).

And that’s about it. The commercial where the guys bring beer to the wine and cheese party was amusing enough. My significant other liked the Doritos commercial where the mouse busts out of the wall and starts beating on the guy with the Doritos. (Then again, my SO is fond of commercials where people get their ass kicked).

The car commercials were either boring or weird (like the one with the guy getting his head shrunk). And the rest of the beer commercials just sort of blurred together.

What about you? Which commercial was your favorite?

Anybody else watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles last night on Fox? I thought it was pretty good. Interesting characters. Lots of action. Lots of explosions. Even a dream sequence.

I’ve seen all the Terminator movies, and I think it’s a pretty cool concept. But it also makes my brain hurt, the way most time travel stories do. Especially the first movie. My question is this — if the love interest from the future hadn’t come to save Sarah, would John have ever been concieved/born? How can the future John send someone back to save him if the guy is also from the future and he’s also John’s father?

Augh! Stop the brain pain!

But I’ll keep watching the show. Also got to get my Prison Break fix tonight, too. 😉

What about you? What shows are you watching right now?

From TV Guide, comes this news bit:

John Singleton is in talks to bring TV’s The A-Team to the big screen, though buzz that Boyz N the Hood‘s Ice Cube will follow in Mr. T’s mohawksteps as B.A. has been denied by Fox …

Is it wrong how happy this makes me? I love me some A-Team! :bub: