excuse me while i hack up a lung
so, since i have been down and out with a cold, i have spent a lot of time catching up on all the tv shows i watch. this includes:
Castle
Bones
Flash Forward
NCIS
Project Runway
Supernatural
The Big Bang Theory
Top Chef
V
White Collar
Now, most of these have been on for at least a few seasons, and have an established fanbase. FF and V are new, and actually roughly similar, so I thought I'd compare the two.
Flash ForwardVGeneral PremiseThe whole planet falls asleep for about 2 min and everyone sees their futureAlien motherships show up over each major city with the promise of peace and sharingWorld's reactionOh god why are we all dead/buildings destroyed/where is my baby?Oh look, pretty things in the sky!So the title comes from...?The event in question, though characters use many different phrases in conversation, from "blackout" to "visions"The name of the alien race. Except they call themselves the "Visitors", but apparently we can only call them "Vs"Where does it all take place?LANYC (mostly?)And the story is going where?time progresses week by week as we get closer to when the flashes take place. The cast struggles with wither or not they want their flashes to come true, and what the source of the event was.Humanity has begun to open up to these visitors almost immediately, but can they really be trusted!? their society is so utopian and... attractive! But what if they're lying and have been here for a while?So lets talk about the charactersAn FBI guy and his team and their friends/family, his wife the Doctor and her team, his friend from AA and his family, and the people he's investigating/meeting along his investigationAn FBI lady in the Anti-Terrorism devision, her partner, her son and his friend, a Priest and his church, some Dude in a nice suit and his wife-to-be, his kinda weird ex-friend, mr. TV Reporter guy, and of course Anna, pretty leader of the Vs, and all of her peopleSo how do they know each other?By the end of the first episode the vast majority of the characters are shown to already know each other through work or personal relationships, or have encountered each other at that pointAt the end of the first episode, more connections have become apparent, but there are still several characters that don't seem to tie into each other yetOkay, but lets be real here. How's the writing?Pretty good, I'd say. Characterizations feel real and their reactions to the FF make sense. a great exchange between FBI guy and his boss: "[...] An unidentified Caucasian woman, we're emailing you photos right now" "Who is she?" "thats the unidentified part, sweet heart."Decent. At one point FBI lady tries to talk to her son about spray-painting the letter V on public property and why that's a bad idea, and it comes off as a half-assed anti-drug speech.Special Effects?Showing that over half the buildings in LA have been destroyed/damaged in pretty much every outdoor shot and keeping the detail consistent, along with lots of injury make-up, looks goodThe spaceships are really shiny. The alien special effects make up is okay.And the acting?Great! The acting is diverse and fluidNot so good, as a lot of the characters feel stiff and alien, and not just the aliens. Though Anna is portrayed amazingly.Music?Nice use of exsisting songs to build tension and emotionClassic background musicNotable ActorsJohn Cho (Star Trek/Harold and Kumar), Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love), Jack Davenport (PotC), Dominic Monaghan (Lost), Sonya Walger (Lost)Morena Baccarin (Firefly), Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), Joel Gretsch (The 4400), Laura Vandervoort (Smallville), Scott Wolf (Party of Five), Alan Tudyk (Firefly)Religious themes? (their both on ABC, so its bound to happen)Talk of everyone being a prophet, and some characters asking if God did itA priest as a main character pulls in a lot of Religeous themes, with him questioning how aliens and God can exsist at the same time (Scientology anyone?)Wait a sec, the FBI are involved in this!?The main guy immediately begins an investigation in why the FF happened, who caused it, if it'll happen again, etc, and his team and boss support himFBI lady picks up some noise from a sleeper cell, waits three weeks, and then finally checks out a meeting with only her partner knowingMost Hilarious moment of the first episodeDramatic Slow-mo of a Kangaroo!Ceramic Jesus Attacks!Use of Media to inform audienceTells us that the effect was global, and is the root of the idea of Mosaic. Internet used to cross-reference flashes, some of which where people were watching the news or reading the paperWe are informed that tourism is up due to people visiting the Motherships. Also, fancy shot of Anna watching TV. And the Vs have a website.Diversity of charactersA family where both parents work, an Asian guy engaged to an African American woman, a Lesbian, a Divorced guy in AA, an autistic boy, and of course all of the diversity in age, race, and genderALIENS! (who are all apparently Caucasian), a single mom (Caucasian), and... well, either a bunch of white people, or African-Americans that are in relationships with each otherNerd CredJOHN CHO (Sulu!), lensflare in the opening title (star trek), blue hand (firefly), Jack Davenport (Norrington!)Independence Day ref, part of the Firefly cast!, and um... yeahWait a second, i think i've heard of this before...There was a Disney channel show about a bunch of kids called Flash Forward, which is unrelated to this show. There was also a novel published in 1999 which this is show is loosely based on, thought there are differences like the flashes being 21 years in the future, not six months. However, character with the same names are similar characteristics show up from the book in the show.V was originally a two-part miniseries with a secondary spin-off mini-series and a spin-off single season tv-show back in the early 80s. The new show is simply a re-imagining of the original, though with different characters and settingHawtness level?Did you look at the cast? Everyone looks different, and yet is attractive in their own way: Scruffy, clean-shaven, skinny, heavier, built, flabby, etc etcNot that bad, though there is a lack of variety of race. The alien ladies are hawt, thoughHow much of it is "Go Go America!"?not really too much. lots of panning over destroyed buildings and the FBI running around, but not too many american flags or the FBI actually knowing what they're doinglots of pretty city-scape of new york, with a few interspersed flagsOpening themeA bit of a "road thus far" recap, and then the title with plenty of lensflarea recap of "oh look aliens! can we trust them?" and some text asking where you were this morning (i was sleeping?) and then blood forming a V ala V for VendettaSo wait, who is the enemy here?The future! and the fear that it'll happen again! i think? but wait, we need to find out who caused it! if there was a person?ALIENS!!!! and the poor folks that like them and their pretty shipsWhere could the show go?Well, the story at least has a benchmark of six months in the future, though if it were to continue past that, something more has to happen (like another flash forward)I smell long-running epic battle against the ALIENS with lots of near-wins and near-losesMagical/lame CatchphraseEveryone in the world will get a flash of their own futureWe are of peace. AlwaysAlright, let's get on to favorites. Fav character?three way tie between Demetri, Janis, and AlAnna!Fav ActorJOHN CHOMorena BaccarinFav moment of the first EpFirst line ever and first words out of Mark's mouth after the FF: "Demetri? Demetri!?" (oh the man-love...)Alan Tudyk Smash! Alan Tudyk Kill!Fav SFX?All the main characters running around with head injuries :3NGL, the spaceships are awfully shinyFav WTF momentI think the kangaroo takes the cakeJet pilots fall from the sky! like ragdolls?Fav cringe moment"Don't touch the hot exhaust pipe! Didn't you learn from last time?!"Young buck sees pretty alien and has eye-sex!Fav "Wait, wouldn't that get mauled irl?" momentDude, 4chan would totally prank the Mosaic WebsiteAnd we didn't nuke the spaceships in a heartbeat because they say they come in peace?Fav "I'm a Doctor, not a Doctor!" momentBryce runs off to save divers at Venice beach"The aliens healed me! I can walk again! Suck on that priests!"Fav capt. obvious statement"My god, it was the whole world!""Something's wrong, man"Fav pairing?Demeri and Janis, in a non-sexual way. they seem very comfortable with each otherAnna and Chad, as I love how she plays with himSo thats all great and wonderful, but really, is it worth watching?YES the characters feel real and the concept is intriguingI guess. as much as its sounds like they've changed the show from its original, it feels a little too constricted so far by the need to be AMAZING ALIEN INVASION OH NOES! show
hopefully by next post i'll be up and running again~
<3
lya
[ETA] Supernatural was made of lulz tonight. oh course, now i crave SPN/Penny-arcade cross over :?
Castle
Bones
Flash Forward
NCIS
Project Runway
Supernatural
The Big Bang Theory
Top Chef
V
White Collar
Now, most of these have been on for at least a few seasons, and have an established fanbase. FF and V are new, and actually roughly similar, so I thought I'd compare the two.
Flash ForwardVGeneral PremiseThe whole planet falls asleep for about 2 min and everyone sees their futureAlien motherships show up over each major city with the promise of peace and sharingWorld's reactionOh god why are we all dead/buildings destroyed/where is my baby?Oh look, pretty things in the sky!So the title comes from...?The event in question, though characters use many different phrases in conversation, from "blackout" to "visions"The name of the alien race. Except they call themselves the "Visitors", but apparently we can only call them "Vs"Where does it all take place?LANYC (mostly?)And the story is going where?time progresses week by week as we get closer to when the flashes take place. The cast struggles with wither or not they want their flashes to come true, and what the source of the event was.Humanity has begun to open up to these visitors almost immediately, but can they really be trusted!? their society is so utopian and... attractive! But what if they're lying and have been here for a while?So lets talk about the charactersAn FBI guy and his team and their friends/family, his wife the Doctor and her team, his friend from AA and his family, and the people he's investigating/meeting along his investigationAn FBI lady in the Anti-Terrorism devision, her partner, her son and his friend, a Priest and his church, some Dude in a nice suit and his wife-to-be, his kinda weird ex-friend, mr. TV Reporter guy, and of course Anna, pretty leader of the Vs, and all of her peopleSo how do they know each other?By the end of the first episode the vast majority of the characters are shown to already know each other through work or personal relationships, or have encountered each other at that pointAt the end of the first episode, more connections have become apparent, but there are still several characters that don't seem to tie into each other yetOkay, but lets be real here. How's the writing?Pretty good, I'd say. Characterizations feel real and their reactions to the FF make sense. a great exchange between FBI guy and his boss: "[...] An unidentified Caucasian woman, we're emailing you photos right now" "Who is she?" "thats the unidentified part, sweet heart."Decent. At one point FBI lady tries to talk to her son about spray-painting the letter V on public property and why that's a bad idea, and it comes off as a half-assed anti-drug speech.Special Effects?Showing that over half the buildings in LA have been destroyed/damaged in pretty much every outdoor shot and keeping the detail consistent, along with lots of injury make-up, looks goodThe spaceships are really shiny. The alien special effects make up is okay.And the acting?Great! The acting is diverse and fluidNot so good, as a lot of the characters feel stiff and alien, and not just the aliens. Though Anna is portrayed amazingly.Music?Nice use of exsisting songs to build tension and emotionClassic background musicNotable ActorsJohn Cho (Star Trek/Harold and Kumar), Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love), Jack Davenport (PotC), Dominic Monaghan (Lost), Sonya Walger (Lost)Morena Baccarin (Firefly), Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), Joel Gretsch (The 4400), Laura Vandervoort (Smallville), Scott Wolf (Party of Five), Alan Tudyk (Firefly)Religious themes? (their both on ABC, so its bound to happen)Talk of everyone being a prophet, and some characters asking if God did itA priest as a main character pulls in a lot of Religeous themes, with him questioning how aliens and God can exsist at the same time (Scientology anyone?)Wait a sec, the FBI are involved in this!?The main guy immediately begins an investigation in why the FF happened, who caused it, if it'll happen again, etc, and his team and boss support himFBI lady picks up some noise from a sleeper cell, waits three weeks, and then finally checks out a meeting with only her partner knowingMost Hilarious moment of the first episodeDramatic Slow-mo of a Kangaroo!Ceramic Jesus Attacks!Use of Media to inform audienceTells us that the effect was global, and is the root of the idea of Mosaic. Internet used to cross-reference flashes, some of which where people were watching the news or reading the paperWe are informed that tourism is up due to people visiting the Motherships. Also, fancy shot of Anna watching TV. And the Vs have a website.Diversity of charactersA family where both parents work, an Asian guy engaged to an African American woman, a Lesbian, a Divorced guy in AA, an autistic boy, and of course all of the diversity in age, race, and genderALIENS! (who are all apparently Caucasian), a single mom (Caucasian), and... well, either a bunch of white people, or African-Americans that are in relationships with each otherNerd CredJOHN CHO (Sulu!), lensflare in the opening title (star trek), blue hand (firefly), Jack Davenport (Norrington!)Independence Day ref, part of the Firefly cast!, and um... yeahWait a second, i think i've heard of this before...There was a Disney channel show about a bunch of kids called Flash Forward, which is unrelated to this show. There was also a novel published in 1999 which this is show is loosely based on, thought there are differences like the flashes being 21 years in the future, not six months. However, character with the same names are similar characteristics show up from the book in the show.V was originally a two-part miniseries with a secondary spin-off mini-series and a spin-off single season tv-show back in the early 80s. The new show is simply a re-imagining of the original, though with different characters and settingHawtness level?Did you look at the cast? Everyone looks different, and yet is attractive in their own way: Scruffy, clean-shaven, skinny, heavier, built, flabby, etc etcNot that bad, though there is a lack of variety of race. The alien ladies are hawt, thoughHow much of it is "Go Go America!"?not really too much. lots of panning over destroyed buildings and the FBI running around, but not too many american flags or the FBI actually knowing what they're doinglots of pretty city-scape of new york, with a few interspersed flagsOpening themeA bit of a "road thus far" recap, and then the title with plenty of lensflarea recap of "oh look aliens! can we trust them?" and some text asking where you were this morning (i was sleeping?) and then blood forming a V ala V for VendettaSo wait, who is the enemy here?The future! and the fear that it'll happen again! i think? but wait, we need to find out who caused it! if there was a person?ALIENS!!!! and the poor folks that like them and their pretty shipsWhere could the show go?Well, the story at least has a benchmark of six months in the future, though if it were to continue past that, something more has to happen (like another flash forward)I smell long-running epic battle against the ALIENS with lots of near-wins and near-losesMagical/lame CatchphraseEveryone in the world will get a flash of their own futureWe are of peace. AlwaysAlright, let's get on to favorites. Fav character?three way tie between Demetri, Janis, and AlAnna!Fav ActorJOHN CHOMorena BaccarinFav moment of the first EpFirst line ever and first words out of Mark's mouth after the FF: "Demetri? Demetri!?" (oh the man-love...)Alan Tudyk Smash! Alan Tudyk Kill!Fav SFX?All the main characters running around with head injuries :3NGL, the spaceships are awfully shinyFav WTF momentI think the kangaroo takes the cakeJet pilots fall from the sky! like ragdolls?Fav cringe moment"Don't touch the hot exhaust pipe! Didn't you learn from last time?!"Young buck sees pretty alien and has eye-sex!Fav "Wait, wouldn't that get mauled irl?" momentDude, 4chan would totally prank the Mosaic WebsiteAnd we didn't nuke the spaceships in a heartbeat because they say they come in peace?Fav "I'm a Doctor, not a Doctor!" momentBryce runs off to save divers at Venice beach"The aliens healed me! I can walk again! Suck on that priests!"Fav capt. obvious statement"My god, it was the whole world!""Something's wrong, man"Fav pairing?Demeri and Janis, in a non-sexual way. they seem very comfortable with each otherAnna and Chad, as I love how she plays with himSo thats all great and wonderful, but really, is it worth watching?YES the characters feel real and the concept is intriguingI guess. as much as its sounds like they've changed the show from its original, it feels a little too constricted so far by the need to be AMAZING ALIEN INVASION OH NOES! show
hopefully by next post i'll be up and running again~
<3
lya
[ETA] Supernatural was made of lulz tonight. oh course, now i crave SPN/Penny-arcade cross over :?