My Almost Quandary (of Sorts)

So, Ally McBeal is coming to DVD later this year and Fox, for some reason but arguably a welcome one, is releasing the first season and the complete series at the same time. Back in the day I watched Ally McBeal fervently -- it was probably the first "grown-up" series I really enjoyed and followed regularly. At least the first dramatic one, since I did, curiously, watch Murphy Brown for a good three to four pre-puberty years, and that was a pretty grown up show. Granted Ally McBeal wasn't a straight up drama, but it was more serious than most of the shows I'd been following to that point in my life. And it was pretty enjoyable. For the first two or three years at least. Then it got kind of... not good. But the first few years were good enough to buy the show 'viewer credit' with me, and I stuck through to the end with it.

And so my quandary lies with the DVD releases. I'm looking forward to revisiting the show, but, well, I'm concerned how it'll hold up. I have fond memories of the show and if it hasn't aged well, that'd be pretty disappointing. I'd really hate to find out it's as lame as my friends thought it was went I was watching it new, but since my initial viewership was part genuine enjoyment and part 'watching a prime time drama for the first time, all adult and such (and on a school night, no less!)', I have a feeling it might not hold up. I probably wouldn't even have these fears if I hadn't caught part of a first season episode when I went to Mexico a few years back (specifically the one where Ally humiliated a guy by making him walk around with pants around his ankles, and yes, it's a good as it sounds...), and part of me would rather leave it be as a show I enjoyed from my teen years than find out it stinks.

On the other hand, Peter McNicol's John Cage was the man, so that might be enough to make me buy the bloody thing, quality be damned. I mean, say what you will about the show, but John Cage was really awesome.

Things I Kind of Wish Were Still Around: Volume Three

Stella was one of those shows that was under (and badly) promoted and died before it had a chance to catch on. Which is a real shame, since it could've found a "Flight of the Conchords"-esque following if it had been given half a chance. A simple enough premise -- and curiously not unlike Conchords -- a trio of idiots living in New York and their various, outlandish misadventures. More 'out-there' than Conchords, it's easy to see why it didn't catch on. I have a friend who enjoyed Conchords and eagerly watched every new episode, but he couldn't handle more than half an episode of Stella. Thing is though, once you get past the uneven pilot episode, Stella gets really great. In fact I still eagerly bring out the DVD collection of the show at least once a year to re-watch (and it's worth noting here that if you are interested in checking out this 2006 DVD release that you're in for a bit of work there -- it was hard enough to find when it was new, and even then I think I had it special ordered).

The best episode of the ten episode run was probably "Meeting Girls", which has the three leads that make up comedy trio Stella, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain, finding romance in a New York redneck bar after winning the respect of the bar's patrons with a Coyote Ugly style dance on the bar counter. I'm reluctant to go into greater deal to avoid revealing too much of the episode (and because my description sounds kind of lame and I'd hate to put anyone off from wanting to watch the show).

It's hard to write about Stella in such a way that'll draw people into the show, because it really is one of those things you have to see for yourself. If you have a good sense of humor, you'll probably enjoy the show. It was really cut off at the knees and given enough time could have found an audience, especially as the Apatow-style of comedy (which wasn't so far off from Stella) started to become popular a short time after the end of the show (in fact David Wain, one of the Stella trio and director of several episodes of the show, is probably better known now for his successful film "Role Models").

If you want to check out episodes of Stella you can find them at the Comedy Central page for the show (or the Comedy Network page for the show, if you're Canadian). Check it out. It's an all right show that I wish was still around.

Just a thought...

But when do you think movie studios are going to stop having to put those warnings on DVD boxes because people have realized that the black bars on the top and bottom of the picture are normal. Seems like folks would've realized it's normal by now, what with widescreen TVs and all. Just a thought.

Hi there.

Still feeling fine. Had a veggie delite sub for dinner and got "Extras: The Complete Series" on DVD. Hoping to do some writing.

Here's a link to an interesting article about the modern action hero (featuring my favorite new show "Chuck").

By the way -- NBC aired what would turn out to be the last new episodes of "Chuck" last Thursday night. While it was nice having two all-new episodes air in the same night (albeit sandwiched between... uh, "Celebrity Apprentice"), I question the logic of burning off some of the few new hours of scripted television NBC still has on the same night. And in January. Wouldn't it have been wise to save them for February sweeps? Or two different evenings. Still, the episodes were pretty good, and I'm all but convinced I'll be getting "Chuck" on DVD.

What I've Been Up To Lately

I haven't been up to much this past week, but I've been keeping busy. Saw Cloverfield opening day. Went in the afternoon to beat the crowds during the evening shows. Worked out too -- I heard from a friend who tried to see it that night that it was sold out. Wasn't that bad. The weak dialogue was more obvious because it was supposed to be "real" and it felt very by-the-numbers, but it was fun seeing in theatres and had some good scares. Kept busy most days of the week. Did some writing, ate out with friends, had pizza one night, chinese the other. Been watching a lot of the sixth season of 24 on DVD with Kerr and Edmond. -- it got bad reviews but it's been fine. Went to London overnight on Thursday. Had a good time.

Don't really have much to say. Terribly sorry about that. Life's been fine lately, so there's not much to gripe about. There was this douche with a cell phone standing in front of me in line at Tim Horton's the other day. That was bloody annoying. He was shouting into his phone and standing his one leg bent and against the other, the tip of his shoe on the ground. It's hard to explain, but it added to the doucheiness. It wasn't as bad as being near someone on a bluetooth in an airport, but it's right up there.

Aside from that, things are fine, I suppose.

Thoughts as I'm Watching "Seinfeld"

I'm watching the sixth season of Seinfeld on DVD and two things come to mind.

1) Third Rock From the Sun wasn't a very good TV show. Sure, it had it's moments, but once the novelty of the premise and the performances wore off, there really isn't much there. It all boils down to the reason I stopped watching it during the run and why it died a slow painful TV demise -- there was just no progression and it was the kind of show that needed it. Not a big sweeping change to the status quo or anything, but some forward movement. If a show is based around a gimmicky premise, it's a necessity after a few years. I thought That 70's Show was running in circles after a while, but the core idea behind the show, that basically of teens hanging out, is solid enough there are directions to go with it organically. Third Rock From the Sun's premise is that they were aliens on Earth to study humans while pretending to be humans. Unless you do something to shake things up you're going to start repeating yourself after a while. Wouldn't have even needed to be a big change, maybe something as simple as Mary finding out the truth, or Sally marrying Officer Don while keeping the secret going. There were subtle changes to the status quo over the years on the show, but it invariably reset itself after a while, and that lack of forward momentum killed the show. Why bother with a new episode when you've seen the same dozens of times before?

2) What ever happened to that woman Kramer got pregnant in "The Chinese Woman" episode of Seinfeld? Not that they confirmed she was pregnant, but that whole thing seems an odd thing not to get back to.

More Youtube Stuff

I've been watching the first season of Flight of the Conchords on DVD and here's my favorite song of the moment from that series.

The DVD set is good. It's nice having the episodes in one collection. Would've preferred some bonus material though with the set, like the Flight of the Conchords HBO special from 2005 or something, but still.

Hi there.

Not much to say. "Stella" and "Justice League Unlimited" are on DVD. Been playing Justice League Heroes quite a bit. Trying to read more and add spice to my lifestyle wherever possible. Like for instance -- the other day I had caramel on my Starbucks white chocolate mocha. Livin' on the edge, and all that.

Hi there, again

I'm going to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a few days. Hopefully I'll be able to keep busy enough. Plan on doing some rewriting of some of my old scripts down there and getting the third season of Scrubs on DVD. Not a whole lot to report on. Hopefully I'll have some juicy stuff to write about when I get back, although I doubt it.

Oh Yeah...

I have a blog. How about that.

Uh... I had a birthday. Watched the series finale of JLU. Been keeping up with South Park, Veronica Mars, Two and a Half Men, and Everybody Hates Chris. Got Justice League season one and In Dream of Jeannie on DVD. Schools wrapping up. Made some money. Suddenly started recalling the entire score to Sweeney Todd (not a bad thing). A friend got a 42" Plasma screen TV, and I have a feeling my brother will too. Been going to Boston Pizza at least once a week -- like the pasta and salad deals. Haven't been up to too much else. Will try to check in soon, as long as I remember I have a blog.

Recent News

So, the family get-together was fun, if not terribly aggravating -- people get unusually tense in my family when it comes to organizing parties. I just hung out with Kerr and Johnny for the most part, but I did sit in when the choir was here, and to hear a few of messer. Levy's stories -- FYI: he and the director of "The Man" didn't get along.

There was a bit of a fuss when word got out that Justice League was coming out on DVD but it wasn't going to be widescreen. In the three or four days since that announcement, Warner Home Video rescinded and said that everything from season two on would be WS. I'm okay with that though -- season one wasn't real widescreen anyway.

My column wasn't in the latest Cut and Print, nor have I heard back from Jake about my mini-interview with Eugene. I suspect something's off with my email, but I'll keep trying to get through.

Anyway, I'll check back soon. Have a good day.

Hi there.

It's been a while since the last post, and not much has happened to me in the meantime. I've been doing school work, a little bit of writing... the new season of JLU has started and while I enjoyed the premiere episode, the second episode of the hour-long block left me a little cold. Still waiting to find last night's episodes somewhere.

In other news, JLU story editor, producer, writer Dwayne McDuffie is doing a Fantastic Four book, which should be pretty good. He's a really cool guy, and a heck of a writer.

So... not much to report on. I'm hoping to find the JLU DVD, but haven't had much luck so far. I should get it soon though, since there's a lot of DVDs coming out this fall and I only have so much disposable income.

Let's see...

Hi there. Not much to report really. Kerr got his Pee Wee Playhouse playset and unopened figures in the mail, but they haven't moved off the spot on the floor he unpacked them on.

I've been watching "His Girl Friday" on DVD -- the transfer is awful, like fourth generation VHS transferred to a barebones DVD awful, but I didn't buy the film for the quality. Besides, it was only six bucks anyway. I've been watching the Daily Show Indecision 2004 boxed set too. It's pretty good, but feels short. I think I may've watched the whole thing in two days. All I have left is to polish off the Election Night coverage, and I'm kind of dreading that since once that's over I'll have to find something else to watch. The Bewitched season set intrigues me since I hate watching colorized versions of those old episodes. Black and white all the way, and all that. Either that or Alias. Jennifer Garner is pretty.

I also got the "Kim Possible movie". About what you'd expect from a Disney Saturday morning cartoon, but I love the art style and animation, and the writing is often surprisingly clever.

I'll check back soon. Promice.

Promice? Promise. Promise.

"Epilogue"

So the season finale of Justice League aired on YTV tonight, and for the second time in as many months, YTV screwed up the airing by instead showing an infomercial and then "Snailympics" for the first five minutes of the show. No word if they'll be reairing it, which would be great since it was a spectacular episode.

Aside from not, not much else to report on. I've been thinking alot about Michael Reaves though, a Batman writer whose episodes I never really liked, they were mostly lower-key, realistic romps and his dialogue occasionally sounds tinny, but the more I think about it, and see his episodes again, I've found they're some of my favorites. "Bullet for Bullock", "Avatar", "Read My Lips", "Sideshow", "Vendetta" -- not the episodes of the classic series (now on DVD) that spring to mind, like say a "Heart of Ice", but all very solid with excellent animation. Definitely underrated as far as DCAU writers go, but right up there with the best of them.