The Simpsons Season 20, Red Dwarf V, and Red Dwarf VI Reviews (Spoilers)
Also reviews for the latest episodes of Heroes, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, American Dad, Smallville, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, the season premiere of Lost, and the series finale of Dollhouse.
I would advise against reading the Dollhouse review until you are caught up with that series but let me make a long story short without spoilers: if you're worried about dipping into the series because it might end on a cliffhanger with everything unresolved don't. The ending was a little rushed (they had to fit everything into three episodes) but it's definite and not a cliffhanger. And unlike the Buffy/Angel/Serenity finales it pretty much closes the door on the franchise. Honestly while I LOVED the endings to Buffy and Angel both of those shows ended with an idea towards the big screen or spin-offs that never happened. The will be no more Dollhouse projects EVER because of the ending. It's similar to the ending of Battlestar Galactica in how definite it is but even more so because there really is no way for Dollhouse to ever do a satisfying prequel. The series itself was often frustrating, and dipped up and down in quality but if you've been holding off because you were worried Fox would yank it before the story finished (which would have been a valid concern had there not been a second season) that's not the case here.
The Simpsons: The 20th Season
We finally get one of the later seasons on DVD. A LOT of people are grumbling about the lack of extras on this set, but for me the important thing is just having the episodes themselves. If they expect me to double-dip in eight years when the DVD releases have caught up we'll see what's what then but for now I'm just happy to see the show in widescreen.
This is a really good season for Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson. She stole the recent movie and I have a feeling it surprised the writers more than anyone so they wrote her some truly classic gags this season. She was a drip in EARLIER Al Jean years but she's actually funny here.
Best episodes of the season are the annual anthology Treehouse Of Horror XIX, the crossword puzzle episode (Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words), the Heavenly Creatures spoof (Lisa The Drama Queen), the outstanding Principal Skinner spotlight (How The Test Was Won), and the Da Vinci Code parody with the brain teasers (Gone Maggie Gone). Worst episodes are the horrid Dangerous Curves and... You know what? There were NO other episodes this year in that league of suck so I would hate to put even the mediocre ones on the same list as Dangerous Curves. It's in a class all by itself. Season overall: ***1/2.
Sex, Pies And Idiot Scrapes: Love how they got Joe Mantenga in as Fat Tony to do a total of two grunts. They always wanted to do that and it was a hilarious inside joke. Homer as a bounty hunter was funny but Marge's erotic bakery plot didn't really go anywhere. ***.
Lost Verizon: Sigh. This episode's first act and a half with Bart pranking Denis Leary after stealing his cell-phone was classic Bart but once the family goes on the wild goose chase the episode completely craps out. SO much wasted potential (Leary is easily the funniest guest voice of the year). ***1/2.
Double, Double Boy In Trouble: My biggest problem with this episode is that Bart is SUCH a monster at the beginning that it's hard to sympathize with him once he gets in real trouble. Seriously has Bart EVER been shown to be that horrible before? I honestly think this is his lowest point ever. **1/2.
Treehouse Of Horror XIX: Opening: Every liberal's worst fear in 2008 coming true. Thankfully it was as about as much of a deal in real life as the Millennium bug turned out to be. *****. Untitled Robot Parody: SOME funny gags, mediocre overall. ***. How To Get Head In Dead-Vertising: The Mad Money opening shot was classic and the rest of the plot was pretty great too. ****. It's The Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse: Not perfect but the closet thing to a classic you can get in the Al Jean years. Best bits are Lisa's Sallyesque "You owe me restitution!" and Nelson's horror that the Grand Pumpkin turned out to be a racist. *****. ToH Overall: ****1/2.
Dangerous Curves: I'm not even going to bother. 0.
Homer And Lisa Exchange Cross Words: Great and smart episode. I hate to admit it but if I were Homer I probably would have bet against Lisa too. I mean, yeah, it's horrible but he wasn't actually using her the way he was in Lisa The Greek. I loved all of the crosswords too. Loved the return of Julio and Grady too. ****1/2.
Mypods And Boomsticks: Nothing outstanding about this episode in any way but I still really like it (although if pressed I'm not sure I could tell you why). One thing of note: Dan Castellaneta returning to the voice of Aladdin's Genie fifteen years after The Return Of Jafar and Aladdin: The Series. Yeah, okay, it was an unlicensed PARODY of the character but I still think it counts. ****.
The Burns And The Bees: I liked them tweaking the opening for the Chrismas outing and think it's a shame that it's the last time they can possibly use this version since the show went into Hi-Def just a few episodes later. A DARN shame. Oh, the episode was funny too. We love you Muck Mu! ***1/2.
Lisa The Drama Queen: Now I NEED to see Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures. Do you know what I REALLY love about this episode? That there's some NOT quite right with Juliet from the beginning. I mean, the writers made Lisa see her as the perfect friend but there is something OFF about her right from the start. Outside of her NOT quite right behavior her father has an incredibly odd and ridiculous profession and their relationship is strange to say the least. I dunno, I just like how weird she is and you kind of realize Lisa is getting in over her head before she does. Best line of the episode goes to Lisa upon Bart's suggestion she buy Juliet a Charleston Chew: "What is this, Brooklyn in the twenties? Don't just say stuff".****1/2.
Take My Life, Please: Crummy episode to use as the first High Def one. The High Def ones are actually a bit of an improvement from recent seasons so it's odd that they didn't use a better one to open the new format. I love the new opening though. ***.
How The Test Was Won: I love this episode. Best bit in the episode is Superintendent Chalmers boogying down top footloose. Some truly outstanding and hilarious poses. I also loved all of the clips of Homer getting hurt. Best line goes to Homer after Marge tells him she doesn't want ANYONE to get hurt: "Me too, Baby, but we gotta get real". ****1/2.
No Loan Again, Naturally: Stupid Flanders... episode. Meh. **1/2.
Gone Maggie Gone: Fun episode with cool brain teasers for the audience to do during the commercial breaks (which is sort of ruined due to the DVD presentation). I love Lisa pointing out that the only way for the correct answer to make sense is if you get the wrong one first. ****.
In The Name Of The Grandfather: The stuff in the hot tub was great and it's always nice to hear Colm Meaney's voice but the episode is only so-so. ***.
Wedding For Disaster: I love the Parson (VERY Bing Crosby) and Ned's reactions to him and it was great to see Sideshow Bob in a small, non-villainous role. I love his take on the director of The House Of Sand And Fog. VERY funny. Good episode. ***1/2.
Eeny Teeny Maya Moe: When I first saw this I thought it was incredibly sweet (and for a Moe episode no less) but upon rewatches I think Maya treated Moe badly. He's really making an effort here and she dumps him because of four (I counted) short puns. The problem with her doing that is that she makes a TON of jokes about her height at her own expense including one that was about a hundred times more tastleless than any of Moe's puns. Someone who goes still and pretends to be a doll while making out to creep out the other person has NO business judging another person's sense of humor. ***1/2.
The Good, The Sad And The Drugly: Loved Lisa's sideplot (AND the smiley faces) and thought Bart's A story was pretty good too. Anne Hathaway made a better impression when she returned this year as Krusty's girlfriend that as the goodie two-shoes she played her but I loved Bart going all out to impress her. Honestly, if Bart wasn't so bad with words he could have REALLY have used to situation as a grand romantic gesture on his part. Women LOVE guys who change because of them but him saying he was only "pretending" was SO clueless. I also loved Bart apologizing to Milhouse at the end. Because he should have. ***1/2.
Father Knows Worst: Boring episode. Not the worst of the season by far, but nothing really of note happens during it (A sauna in the house? Really?!). Still, I gotta give Bart props for the lighter fluid prank. THAT was classic as was Homer's reaction. ***.
Waverly Hills, 9-0-2-1-D'Oh: Ellen Page is a GREAT guest voice here and I love Lisa's reaction to getting a B plus on her test and being "Challenged" ("Waaaaaah!!!"). But the rest of the episode is merely passable. ***.
Four Great Women And A Manicure: A quadrilogy! The Elizabeth I was only okay (Julio was funny though) and the less said about The Fountainhead homage the better but I liked this take on Snow White (and all of the Dwarf names) because of the animation and MacBeth had QUITE a few hilarious lines (Homer's droopy "No dear, I'm a man, dear"). Nice. ***1/2.
Coming To Homerica: A nice way to close out the season with some classic Krusty gags at the beginning. ***1/2.
The 20th Anniversary Sneak Peek With Morgan Spurlock: Cool trailer but they should have just included the whole special. ****1/2.
DVD Menus: Matt Groening draws The Simpsons. Surprise! They're actually on-model! ****.
Disc 1 DVD Menu: Homer and Bart while the end theme to Homer The Vigilante plays. ****.
Disc 2 DVD Menu: Lisa while the end them to Lisa's Wedding plays. ****.
Disc 3 DVD Menu: Marge and Maggie while the end theme to Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 2 plays. ****.
Disc 4 DVD Menu: Bart while the end theme to Bart Vs. Austalia plays along with a cameo from Patty and Selma on the Extra Menu while the end theme to Lisa's Sax plays. ****.
Heroes "The Art Of Deception"
VERY dark stuff. I didn't exactly enjoy it but it was petty riveting television either way. I DO have a complaint (and it goes for the next episode as well). We are heading straight for the series finale and it doesn't really seem like it. Most shows with story arcs are able to increase the tension all season long and build to the finale but Heroes has always sucked at this and this year is no exception. There's a possibility the season finale will be good and surprise me but I saw the same problems here that I did with Generations, Villains and Fugitives so I'm VERY skeptical. ***1/2.
Heroes "The Wall"
I enjoyed this. I have to say Claire was kind of annoying me until the big reveal that Samuel DIDN'T turn her against HRG. I say that because NONE of the stuff that was revealed about Noah was particularly damning for his character and she acted like he was a monster because of it. Whether that was just for appearances is now up for debate so can let it slide but the flashbacks made me MORE sympathetic to Bennet, and not less.
I like the idea of Sylar reforming (for real this time). I'm not sure if it will stick but I think it's a pretty cool development for him (his stuff with Peter was pretty neat. ****.
Smallville "Disciple"
Is it just me or is all of this focus on Oliver this year kind of annoying? I mean, I KNOW we were asking for it when he was barely visible the last two seasons but now it's overkill. Either way, I didn't really like the episode. Only good thing I saw was the scene between Zod and Lois. Other than that, meh. **1/2.
Batman: The Brave And The Bold "Sidekicks Assemble!"
This was unbearably cool and lame at the same time. Robin becoming Nightwing (what is up with that costume?) was both awesome and groan-inducing. And it's great to see the Ra's Al Ghul Embargo finally lifted (and yes, he's properly called "Rayshe" here. Green Arrow and Aquaman had some funny lines too. Good episode. ****1/2.
Batman: The Brave And The Bold "Clash Of The Metal Men!"
I enjoyed this, but I couldn't tell you why (it's REALLY cheesy). One beef was the cliffhanger in the teaser. They better be leading up to something REALLY big and cool because these cliffhangers which give us NO clue when they will be followed up on are kind of annoying. ****.
Lost "LA X"
This was a mindblowing five star episode and the best season premiere since season two. Actually it blew season two's first episode out of the water which was quite a feat. We are actually getting ANSWERS now (as well as the new flash-sideways which is a brilliant conceit). I loved Smokey's take on John Locke ("I'm sorry you had to see me that way") and really hope that Locke is still somehow ressurrected.
Good move on the show to make Nestor Carbonell and Jeff Fahey regulars. They deserve it.
Sawyer's grief was palpable and I love that Jack didn't even TRY to diffuse. He knew he was completely right. Now that they are back in the present I want to see Sun and Jin reunited SO badly.
Desmond is on the plane in this reality! The castaways changed more than they bargained for. Is Penny still alive? Did Charles Widmore, Richard Alpert and Eloise Hawking die in this reality? Will the new parallel universe ever hook up with ours? These are the questions I'm asking and I love that the producers hinted that these are the RIGHT ones for us to do so. This episode was incredible (we got to see Charlie and Boone again!) and I loved it. *****.
Iron Man: Armored Adventures "Uncontrollable"
Consider what jerk this show made Nick Fury and Black Panther I delighted this episode was a nice return to the "Good Hulk" that I grew up with. As much as I love Wolverine And The X-Men their version of Hulk was a little too mean for my taste. It was also funny yo see MODOK again. I enjoyed the episode. ****1/2.
The Simpsons "Million Dollar Maybe"
Do you know what I noticed about this episode? The show has spent the last ten years falling into a rut and has pretty much churned out EVERY kind of predictable story the format of the show allows so I've noticed this season they've decided to do UNPREDICTABLE stories to see if that could give them some additional episode ideas. Homer winning the lottery and NOT squandering the money was a VERY unexpected twist and believable too. A LOT of poor people who win the lottery manage to spend all of the money in a short time and wind up back where they started so I completely bought the idea of Homer spending a lot of money without completely wasting all of it. The twist of Homer thinking that hurting Marge's feelings was worse than not being able to enjoy a million dollars was exactly the right tack for the episode to take. Good episode. ****.
The Cleveland Show "Our Gang"
ANY other week I would have really liked this episode which has Cleveland unwittingly becoming the leader of the drug gang. But this is the week American Dad did THEIR drug episode that was so fantastic that it blew this out of the water. Take note Cleveland Show producers: I think the proper way to make Cleveland funny is to have him completely misunderstand situations in a Three's Company manner rather than making him stupid or mean. The best episodes of the show so far have taken this tack and I hope the producers wise up and make this a regular thing. Cleveland doesn't work as an average dumb dad and misundertandings are a great way for the producers to have their cake and eat it too. ****.
Family Guy "Dial Meg For Murder"
Family Guy usually has great first and second acts and then falls apart at the climax. This episode was the opposite: it didn't start getting hilarious until Meg got back from prison and started terrorizing the family. Best line goes to Stewie: "Oh, so NOW you all can understand me". ***1/2.
American Dad "A Jones For A Smith"
The whole episode had me falling on my sides laughing but the absolute BEST bit was the crack commercial. It was SUCH a spot-on take on drug commercials that I nearly got a heart attack laughing. Great episode. ****1/2.
Community "Beginner Pottery"
Funny episode. I'm really starting to dig this show and LOVE that Britta's ultimate motivation for splitting up Annie and Practice Douche was jealously. And Abed and Troy are STILL the funniest same sex romantic couple on television. ***1/2.
Parks And Recreation "Sweetums"
Is it SO wrong that I was rooting for Ron throughout the episode? I loved his apology at the end to Leslie. I thought April and Andy's romance is turning VERY interesting? Can she overcome her nasty nature to take a chance on the guy? I want to know NOW! ***1/2.
The Office "Sabre"
I love how this show always shows the previously all together bosses who get fired turn into nutjobs once they lose their jobs. I like Micheal REALLY never wanted to see David Wallace in that light and I hope I never will again. Pam and Jim's subplot at the daycare was both cute and REALLY cringe inducing. And Ed Helms is now in the theme song! Yay! ****.
30 Rock "Verna"
I was prepared to write this episode off as a dud (VERY little Kenneth or Tracy Jordan) until the appalling and disturbingly hilarious scene of Liz sleep-eating and Frank lusting after a mother-figure on tape. That was just SO wrong and SO right on every level. ***1/2.
Red Dwarf V
This is easily Red Dwarf's darkest season yet. I've said in an earlier review that Red Dwarf stopped being a sitcom with a sci-fi premise and simply became a science fiction series with a laugh track and this season proves it. There are some actual outright terrifying moments here and some real jeopardy for the characters. Some really great episodes too.
The cast has completely gelled in their roles (ESPECIALLY Criag Charles as Dave Lister) and it's at this point in the series when all of the characters became beloved by me. It's SUCH a great show with a great cast.
Best episodes of the season are the terrifying The Inquisitor and the season finale Back To Reality. No bad episodes this year but I'm not QUITE as fond of Holoship or Terrorform as I am of the others. Season Overall: *****.
Holoship: It's weird that I'm bored with the Rimmer stuff as this could be considered one of Chris Barrie's best episode. The funniest scene for me was Lister mocking and threatening the Hologram with gusto. Hilarious. ***.
The Inquisitor: Best episode of the series thus far. Some truly scary things happen and the Inquisitor is smegging freaky. I love the sci-fi concepts the episode uses to get Lister and Kryten out of their mess and the final fate of the villain. Lister and Kryten worthless? Never! *****.
Terrorform: The episode is decent until the last ten minutes which is pretty much an excuse for a group hug. Not a bad episode but the season offered much better. ***.
Quarantine: A tour de force for Chris Barrie. Brilliant stuff with Mr. Flibble and if Rimmer's descent into madness was really all that scary the hologram he caught the virus from truly was. I also really appreciated the Luck Virus and thought that was awesome too. ****.
Demons & Angels: Another scary episode with some shocking violence and gore in it. It's also pretty funny (which The Inquisitor mostly wasn't). ****.
Back To Reality: Just because it's not as great as everybody says it is doesn't mean it isn't great. Several ideas this episode put forth were returned to later in later seasons and Back To Earth so it gets props for that too. I loved everybody's worst nightmares along I don't quite believe that Rimmer's was bad enough to want to kill himself. Everybody else's was great though. This is Hattie Hayridge's last episode as Holly and I wish she had gotten a better send-off. But nothing in life is perfect. Look for roles for Timothy Spall (The Harry Potter Movies) and Lenny Von Dohlen (Twin Peaks). ****1/2.
Heavy Science: A documentary looking back at season five. The most interesting part for me was at the end: how Rob Grant and Doug Naylor broke the horrible news to the sweet Hattie Hayridge that Holly had been written out in Series VI. She is SO awesome. ****.
Bonus Material:
Deleted Scenes: Series V Deleted Scenes: A LOT this year (40 minutes worth). The best ones were the look under the hood of The Inquisitor, the explanation as to why Rimmer could touch people in Terrorform, and the scenes between Rimmer and Nirvahnah. Great batch this series. *****.
Trailers:
Trailer 1: For Holoship. This was barely ten seconds. ***.
Trailer 2: Why is it I feel there isn't ANY sort of trailer they could do for Back To Reality that would do it justice? It's about as good as could be expected but the nature of the story (and the fear that it COULD be the series finale) is so different from any other episode. The trailer takes what could have potentially been a complete mindscrew to the audience and plays it up as a regular episode. BBC needed to think bigger. ***1/2.
Trailer 3: This was interesting. It was a video trailer for Doctor Who, Blake's 7 and Red Dwarf with the Doctor Who theme playing. Pretty spiffy. ****.
Trailer 4: A BBC video trailer for Red Dwarf and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Don't Panic! ****.
"Best Ever Episode" Introduction: Funny stuff with Craig Charles. ****.
"Skutter" Channel Idents: The video quality on these is surprisingly good. (Is this because it was computer animated?) These promos reminded me a lot of Pixar's Luxo Jr. ****1/2.
Raw Effects Footage: Some neat stuff this year. We got closer looks at the folding Holoship, the Despair Squid (!), Rimmer's Self-Loathing Monster, Red Dwarf exploding and Starbug's Caterpillar walk on the Psi Moon. Cool! ****1/2.
The SFX Of Red Dwarf V: Nice documentary showing the model-makers and puppeteers at work. ****.
"Bad Guys": A montage featuring the best villains of the series set to the song "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet". ****1/2.
Dwarfing USA: I knew this was a disaster by reputation but I had no idea of how HUGE a one it was. This wasn't just a failed pilot. This was the Hindenberg. When I got the DVD set I was disappointed that they didn't actually include this US Pilots but now there is no way I'd be interested in seeing the whole thing. I have to say I really started to loathe Linwood Boomer, even though I liked the early episodes of Malcolm in the Middle. Every decision he made was the wrong one and he kept trying to stroke his own ego despite his script being garbage. This whole thing is a great reminder of why the U.S. Torchwood will probably be a disaster too. American tastes in sitcoms tend to horrible and by trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator of audiences Hollywood producers tend to give us mindless dreck over and over again. ****.
Gallery: Big batch this year. Overall: ***1/2.
Behind The Scenes: ***1/2.
FX Designs: ****.
Production 1: ***1/2.
Production 2: ***.
Production 3: ***1/2.
Video Sleeves: ****.
Smeg Ups: Series V Smeg Ups: Funny stuff this year although surprisingly few goofs from Chris Barrie. Robert Llewellyn became this year's most valued goofball in how he kept flubbing a lot of his exposition scenes. Craig Charles made a few funny screw ups too. ****.
Music Cues: Some really intricate scoring this year. Overall: ****.
Holoship (7): Lots of Piano and Harps. ***1/2.
The Inquisitor (4): Truly frightening music. ****.
Terrorform (N/A): No music, just a three second gag. **1/2.
Quarantine (6): Madness set to music. Isn't that right, Mr. Flibble? ****.
Demons & Angels (6): Both angelic and demonic (duh). ***1/2.
Back to Reality (7): By turns downbeat, nightmarish and funky. ****.
Opening Theme: Rock Guitar Version of Fun In The Sun. *****.
Main Theme: Classic Fun In The Sun. *****.
Additional 1 (9): Mostly variations on the "2001" version of the theme but I DID notice an homage to Alexander Courage's Star Trek Theme. ***1/2.
Additional 2 (8): Incidental music. ***1/2.
Radio Sketch: "Son Of Cliche": This is an original Dave Hollins sketch which Red Dwarf was loosely based on. I noticed they use aliens here which was pretty much a no-no on the series itself. Funny stuff. ****.
Disc 1 Easter Egg #1: Back To Reality Animation: One of the better animated Easter Eggs. I loved Ed Bye wishing the episode would be rubbish and being disappointed at how great it was. ****.
Disc 1 Easter Egg #2: Commentary Booth Egg: Involving indigestion, the scene from "Alien" and Mr. Flibble. Priceless. *****.
Disc 2 Easter Egg: The Accent Question: This is speculation that Jane Leeves may have aped Robert Llewellyn and Doug Naylor's Manchester accent for the character of Daphne on Frasier. It sounds entirely plausible to me. ****.
DVD Credits: Mashed up screen with intrumental music. ***.
DVD Menu Disc One: The Red Dwarf completely wrecked with Holly gone mad. Best menu yet. *****.
DVD Menu Disc Two: Suicide Squid! Ha! *****.
Red Dawrf VI
In my opinion this is the best season of Red Dwarf (at least until Back To Earth). It's certainly my favorite and contains my favorite episode of the series (the cliffhanger Out Of Time) and the undisputed classic Gunmen Of The Apocalypse which won an Emmy.
This is the season where Rimmer got a Hard Light Drive in his Light Bee so he could actually touch stuff and Cat actually became useful. But the biggest change was setting the entire series on Starbug after Red Dwarf has gone missing. It ties this season (and the next) into a kind of cool story arc that isn't resolved until the end of Series VII.
Best episodes of the season are the epic western (Gunmen Of The Apocalypse) and the shocking season finale which sadly was not able to live up to it's promise in the first episode of season seven (Out Of Time). There are no bad episodes this year. Season Overall: *****.
Psirens: Creepy and hilarious at the same time. The way the Psiren tricked Kryten at the end was a moment of pure genius and it seems miraculous that he was STILL able to turn the tables on the bad guys at the end. Good episode. ****.
Legion: Speaking of Kryten turning the tables, the solution to THIS episode was brilliant as well (and completely logical). The best scene here is easily the dinner table scene with some great sight gags. Well done. ****1/2.
Gunmen Of The Apocalypse: A classic and one of the best episodes ever. The whole setting is wonderful as are the virtual reality games (ESPECIALLY the one at the beginning with Lister tongueing thin air). But the greatest part is the second half in the Western. Absolutely wonderful with funny jokes and a truly epic ending. Only complaint is that the episode seems to end WAAAYYY too soon but that's something that can be said for all great television. *****.
Emohawk - Polymorph II: The stuff on the GELF planet was funny but standard. The real meat of the episode didn't come until the Polymorph boarded Starbug and the forced the surprise returns of Duane Dibbley and Ace Rimmer. You could tell how excited the audience was to see these two again and it's an excitement I shared. Another good episode. ****.
Rimmerworld: This is a good episode too and probably would be considered pretty great by me if it had aired in say, season three. But it IS sort of the weak link of the entire season. It's funny, but you kind of wished for more. ***1/2.
Out Of Time: The ending still slays me and the rest of the episode has so much going on in it as well. The best thing about the ending is Rimmer's moment of heroism. It meant a LOT to me that Rimmer, who had been completely broken down and repeatedly humiliated on this show be the one to suggest them all going on a suicide mission and be the last hero standing. I almost wish they had gone with the original ending of Rimmer saving the day as the resolution to the cliffhanger wasn't very satisfying but it wouldn't have created such a demand for another series if it had gone down that way. But four years was STILL too long to wait. *****.
Raw FX Footage - Model FX: Not quite as many special effects as last year, but the ones they had were better than ever. ****.
Return To Laredo: This is a featurette of Robert Llewellyn visiting the the mock Western town where Gunmen Of The Apocalypse was taped. Interesting. ***1/2.
Deleted Scenes - Series VI Deleted Scenes: The best cuts were from Polymorph (a LOT of funny dialogue) but I want to give a special shout-out to the original ending to Out Of Time. I liked the cliffhanger but Rimmer being an unabashed hero would have been completely awesome. I wish they had stuck with the original, fan spoilers be darned. I also liked the story of how Lister got a Vindiloo tattoo. ****1/2.
Howard Goodall - Settling The Score: Cool look at the musical score of the show. I loved the extended theme lyrics, the story behind the origins of Tongue Tied and the craziness of Rimmerworld. I loved hearing Fun In The Sun played on the piano too. And yes, this interview took place before Phil Specter murdered anyone. ****1/2.
Trailers:
Trailer 1: Good picture quality for a fan VHS recording. ***1/2.
Trailer 2: Crummy picture quality, awesome trailer. *****.
Trailer 3: Brief. ***1/2.
Music Cues - Music Cues By Howard Goodall: Nice ones this year especially from Gunmen Of The Apocalypse. Overall: ****1/2.
Psirens (6): Kind of creepy. ***1/2.
Legion (5): Majestic and classy. The piano playing classical music was VERY pretty. *****.
Gunmen (11): Magnificent. I love the noirish bit at the beginng. My favorite is the Riviera Kid's Theme. *****.
Emohawk (2): Tribal Drumbeats. **1/2.
Rimmerworld (2): Bland. **1/2.
Out of Time (3): Best music is the heroic climax. ****1/2.
Opening Theme: Still love it. *****.
Main Theme: Classic. *****.
Gunmen Theme: This played over the end credits of Gunmen Of The Apocalypse. *****.
Honky-Tonk Theme: Awesome. *****.
Additional (6): Pretty good. ***.
Additional (9): Decent. ***.
"Sick" Music Featurette - Sick: Another montage. ***1/2.
Smeg Ups - Series VI Smeg Ups: Twenty minutes of bloopers. The length of this and other blooper reels from this show made me realize how many mistakes the cast make in just six episodes. The normal lengths of most American blooper reels are between five and seven minutes and that's usually for at least 22 episodes. I'd hate to be a member of the studio audience when this show was being taped. You'd spend half the time waiting for the cast to get their lines right. I also hated Craig Charles' obsession with boogers. This year's bloopers annoyed me. **.
Gallery: My favorite of the galleries so far. ****.
Production 1: ****.
Production 2: ****.
Production 3: ****.
Behind The Scenes 1: ***1/2.
Behind The Scenes 2: ***1/2.
Designs, Sets and Covers: ****.
Radio Sketch: Son Of Cliche: Another Dave Hollins sketch (which was the basis for Red Dwarf). Did you know pens are smarter than Einstein? ****.
Behind The Scenes:
Behind the Scenes Footage: No context (the documentary this was a part of was never completed) makes this VERY hard to follow. **1/2.
Interview with Andy de Emmony: A bit dry but cool nonetheless. ***.
8mm Model-Maker Footage: Grainy and Black and White behind the scenes footage of the model making process. ***1/2.
The Starbuggers: I still laugh at the story of Craig Charles completely spooking Chris Barrie's horse in Gunmen and making him go off on a wild run (along with Barrie's subsequent fury at Charles). I also find it interesting that my favorite episode of the series (Out Of Time) had so many problems and was basically written on the fly. You can't tell at all. ***1/2.
Disc One Easter Egg #1: Footage Archive: A combination of three Easter Eggs in One. I will review them seperately below. Overall: *****.
Easter Egg - Cockpit Footage: Footage of the cast in Starbug's cockpit. Cool! ****.
Easter Egg - SVC Footage #1: This is the hologram footage of Rimmer from Psirens. It's nice being able to see the whole thing. ****1/2.
Easter Egg - SVC Footage #2: The footage from the virtual reality game selection from Gunmen Of The Apocalypse. *****.
Disc One Easter Egg #2: Gunmen Of The Apocalypse Animation: Those costumes they put Rob, Ed and Doug in are truly messed up. Hilarious. ***1/2.
Disc One Easter Egg #3: Easter Egg - The Memory Man: This was funny. I love seeing when stars of shows know absolutely nothing about the shows they were actually in. ***1/2.
DVD Credits: On the Starbug monitor. ***.
DVD Menu Disc One: I miss Holly. ***1/2.
DVD Menu Disc Two: Same as Disc One except for the shots of the kitchen and the sleeping quarters in the bonus material menu. ***1/2.
Dollhouse "Epitaph Two: The Return"
I kept looking at the clock all throughout the episode because I couldn't see how they could POSSIBLY wrap everything up in ten minutes without a cliffhanger ending but danged if they didn't manage it. How was it? I liked the ending even if it DID seem like they had to rush to finish a series with a five season game plan in three episodes. They mostly managed to successfully pull it off.
Great to see Mag and Zone again and I was shocked by Paul's death (even though Topher's was expected by me). I'm glad Briya and Tony ended up together after all (which is how it should be) and everyone in the real world was turned back to normal. It's about all I could have hoped for and I'm glad Joss managed it. Good finale to a good series. ****1/2.
I would advise against reading the Dollhouse review until you are caught up with that series but let me make a long story short without spoilers: if you're worried about dipping into the series because it might end on a cliffhanger with everything unresolved don't. The ending was a little rushed (they had to fit everything into three episodes) but it's definite and not a cliffhanger. And unlike the Buffy/Angel/Serenity finales it pretty much closes the door on the franchise. Honestly while I LOVED the endings to Buffy and Angel both of those shows ended with an idea towards the big screen or spin-offs that never happened. The will be no more Dollhouse projects EVER because of the ending. It's similar to the ending of Battlestar Galactica in how definite it is but even more so because there really is no way for Dollhouse to ever do a satisfying prequel. The series itself was often frustrating, and dipped up and down in quality but if you've been holding off because you were worried Fox would yank it before the story finished (which would have been a valid concern had there not been a second season) that's not the case here.
The Simpsons: The 20th Season
We finally get one of the later seasons on DVD. A LOT of people are grumbling about the lack of extras on this set, but for me the important thing is just having the episodes themselves. If they expect me to double-dip in eight years when the DVD releases have caught up we'll see what's what then but for now I'm just happy to see the show in widescreen.
This is a really good season for Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson. She stole the recent movie and I have a feeling it surprised the writers more than anyone so they wrote her some truly classic gags this season. She was a drip in EARLIER Al Jean years but she's actually funny here.
Best episodes of the season are the annual anthology Treehouse Of Horror XIX, the crossword puzzle episode (Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words), the Heavenly Creatures spoof (Lisa The Drama Queen), the outstanding Principal Skinner spotlight (How The Test Was Won), and the Da Vinci Code parody with the brain teasers (Gone Maggie Gone). Worst episodes are the horrid Dangerous Curves and... You know what? There were NO other episodes this year in that league of suck so I would hate to put even the mediocre ones on the same list as Dangerous Curves. It's in a class all by itself. Season overall: ***1/2.
Sex, Pies And Idiot Scrapes: Love how they got Joe Mantenga in as Fat Tony to do a total of two grunts. They always wanted to do that and it was a hilarious inside joke. Homer as a bounty hunter was funny but Marge's erotic bakery plot didn't really go anywhere. ***.
Lost Verizon: Sigh. This episode's first act and a half with Bart pranking Denis Leary after stealing his cell-phone was classic Bart but once the family goes on the wild goose chase the episode completely craps out. SO much wasted potential (Leary is easily the funniest guest voice of the year). ***1/2.
Double, Double Boy In Trouble: My biggest problem with this episode is that Bart is SUCH a monster at the beginning that it's hard to sympathize with him once he gets in real trouble. Seriously has Bart EVER been shown to be that horrible before? I honestly think this is his lowest point ever. **1/2.
Treehouse Of Horror XIX: Opening: Every liberal's worst fear in 2008 coming true. Thankfully it was as about as much of a deal in real life as the Millennium bug turned out to be. *****. Untitled Robot Parody: SOME funny gags, mediocre overall. ***. How To Get Head In Dead-Vertising: The Mad Money opening shot was classic and the rest of the plot was pretty great too. ****. It's The Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse: Not perfect but the closet thing to a classic you can get in the Al Jean years. Best bits are Lisa's Sallyesque "You owe me restitution!" and Nelson's horror that the Grand Pumpkin turned out to be a racist. *****. ToH Overall: ****1/2.
Dangerous Curves: I'm not even going to bother. 0.
Homer And Lisa Exchange Cross Words: Great and smart episode. I hate to admit it but if I were Homer I probably would have bet against Lisa too. I mean, yeah, it's horrible but he wasn't actually using her the way he was in Lisa The Greek. I loved all of the crosswords too. Loved the return of Julio and Grady too. ****1/2.
Mypods And Boomsticks: Nothing outstanding about this episode in any way but I still really like it (although if pressed I'm not sure I could tell you why). One thing of note: Dan Castellaneta returning to the voice of Aladdin's Genie fifteen years after The Return Of Jafar and Aladdin: The Series. Yeah, okay, it was an unlicensed PARODY of the character but I still think it counts. ****.
The Burns And The Bees: I liked them tweaking the opening for the Chrismas outing and think it's a shame that it's the last time they can possibly use this version since the show went into Hi-Def just a few episodes later. A DARN shame. Oh, the episode was funny too. We love you Muck Mu! ***1/2.
Lisa The Drama Queen: Now I NEED to see Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures. Do you know what I REALLY love about this episode? That there's some NOT quite right with Juliet from the beginning. I mean, the writers made Lisa see her as the perfect friend but there is something OFF about her right from the start. Outside of her NOT quite right behavior her father has an incredibly odd and ridiculous profession and their relationship is strange to say the least. I dunno, I just like how weird she is and you kind of realize Lisa is getting in over her head before she does. Best line of the episode goes to Lisa upon Bart's suggestion she buy Juliet a Charleston Chew: "What is this, Brooklyn in the twenties? Don't just say stuff".****1/2.
Take My Life, Please: Crummy episode to use as the first High Def one. The High Def ones are actually a bit of an improvement from recent seasons so it's odd that they didn't use a better one to open the new format. I love the new opening though. ***.
How The Test Was Won: I love this episode. Best bit in the episode is Superintendent Chalmers boogying down top footloose. Some truly outstanding and hilarious poses. I also loved all of the clips of Homer getting hurt. Best line goes to Homer after Marge tells him she doesn't want ANYONE to get hurt: "Me too, Baby, but we gotta get real". ****1/2.
No Loan Again, Naturally: Stupid Flanders... episode. Meh. **1/2.
Gone Maggie Gone: Fun episode with cool brain teasers for the audience to do during the commercial breaks (which is sort of ruined due to the DVD presentation). I love Lisa pointing out that the only way for the correct answer to make sense is if you get the wrong one first. ****.
In The Name Of The Grandfather: The stuff in the hot tub was great and it's always nice to hear Colm Meaney's voice but the episode is only so-so. ***.
Wedding For Disaster: I love the Parson (VERY Bing Crosby) and Ned's reactions to him and it was great to see Sideshow Bob in a small, non-villainous role. I love his take on the director of The House Of Sand And Fog. VERY funny. Good episode. ***1/2.
Eeny Teeny Maya Moe: When I first saw this I thought it was incredibly sweet (and for a Moe episode no less) but upon rewatches I think Maya treated Moe badly. He's really making an effort here and she dumps him because of four (I counted) short puns. The problem with her doing that is that she makes a TON of jokes about her height at her own expense including one that was about a hundred times more tastleless than any of Moe's puns. Someone who goes still and pretends to be a doll while making out to creep out the other person has NO business judging another person's sense of humor. ***1/2.
The Good, The Sad And The Drugly: Loved Lisa's sideplot (AND the smiley faces) and thought Bart's A story was pretty good too. Anne Hathaway made a better impression when she returned this year as Krusty's girlfriend that as the goodie two-shoes she played her but I loved Bart going all out to impress her. Honestly, if Bart wasn't so bad with words he could have REALLY have used to situation as a grand romantic gesture on his part. Women LOVE guys who change because of them but him saying he was only "pretending" was SO clueless. I also loved Bart apologizing to Milhouse at the end. Because he should have. ***1/2.
Father Knows Worst: Boring episode. Not the worst of the season by far, but nothing really of note happens during it (A sauna in the house? Really?!). Still, I gotta give Bart props for the lighter fluid prank. THAT was classic as was Homer's reaction. ***.
Waverly Hills, 9-0-2-1-D'Oh: Ellen Page is a GREAT guest voice here and I love Lisa's reaction to getting a B plus on her test and being "Challenged" ("Waaaaaah!!!"). But the rest of the episode is merely passable. ***.
Four Great Women And A Manicure: A quadrilogy! The Elizabeth I was only okay (Julio was funny though) and the less said about The Fountainhead homage the better but I liked this take on Snow White (and all of the Dwarf names) because of the animation and MacBeth had QUITE a few hilarious lines (Homer's droopy "No dear, I'm a man, dear"). Nice. ***1/2.
Coming To Homerica: A nice way to close out the season with some classic Krusty gags at the beginning. ***1/2.
The 20th Anniversary Sneak Peek With Morgan Spurlock: Cool trailer but they should have just included the whole special. ****1/2.
DVD Menus: Matt Groening draws The Simpsons. Surprise! They're actually on-model! ****.
Disc 1 DVD Menu: Homer and Bart while the end theme to Homer The Vigilante plays. ****.
Disc 2 DVD Menu: Lisa while the end them to Lisa's Wedding plays. ****.
Disc 3 DVD Menu: Marge and Maggie while the end theme to Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 2 plays. ****.
Disc 4 DVD Menu: Bart while the end theme to Bart Vs. Austalia plays along with a cameo from Patty and Selma on the Extra Menu while the end theme to Lisa's Sax plays. ****.
Heroes "The Art Of Deception"
VERY dark stuff. I didn't exactly enjoy it but it was petty riveting television either way. I DO have a complaint (and it goes for the next episode as well). We are heading straight for the series finale and it doesn't really seem like it. Most shows with story arcs are able to increase the tension all season long and build to the finale but Heroes has always sucked at this and this year is no exception. There's a possibility the season finale will be good and surprise me but I saw the same problems here that I did with Generations, Villains and Fugitives so I'm VERY skeptical. ***1/2.
Heroes "The Wall"
I enjoyed this. I have to say Claire was kind of annoying me until the big reveal that Samuel DIDN'T turn her against HRG. I say that because NONE of the stuff that was revealed about Noah was particularly damning for his character and she acted like he was a monster because of it. Whether that was just for appearances is now up for debate so can let it slide but the flashbacks made me MORE sympathetic to Bennet, and not less.
I like the idea of Sylar reforming (for real this time). I'm not sure if it will stick but I think it's a pretty cool development for him (his stuff with Peter was pretty neat. ****.
Smallville "Disciple"
Is it just me or is all of this focus on Oliver this year kind of annoying? I mean, I KNOW we were asking for it when he was barely visible the last two seasons but now it's overkill. Either way, I didn't really like the episode. Only good thing I saw was the scene between Zod and Lois. Other than that, meh. **1/2.
Batman: The Brave And The Bold "Sidekicks Assemble!"
This was unbearably cool and lame at the same time. Robin becoming Nightwing (what is up with that costume?) was both awesome and groan-inducing. And it's great to see the Ra's Al Ghul Embargo finally lifted (and yes, he's properly called "Rayshe" here. Green Arrow and Aquaman had some funny lines too. Good episode. ****1/2.
Batman: The Brave And The Bold "Clash Of The Metal Men!"
I enjoyed this, but I couldn't tell you why (it's REALLY cheesy). One beef was the cliffhanger in the teaser. They better be leading up to something REALLY big and cool because these cliffhangers which give us NO clue when they will be followed up on are kind of annoying. ****.
Lost "LA X"
This was a mindblowing five star episode and the best season premiere since season two. Actually it blew season two's first episode out of the water which was quite a feat. We are actually getting ANSWERS now (as well as the new flash-sideways which is a brilliant conceit). I loved Smokey's take on John Locke ("I'm sorry you had to see me that way") and really hope that Locke is still somehow ressurrected.
Good move on the show to make Nestor Carbonell and Jeff Fahey regulars. They deserve it.
Sawyer's grief was palpable and I love that Jack didn't even TRY to diffuse. He knew he was completely right. Now that they are back in the present I want to see Sun and Jin reunited SO badly.
Desmond is on the plane in this reality! The castaways changed more than they bargained for. Is Penny still alive? Did Charles Widmore, Richard Alpert and Eloise Hawking die in this reality? Will the new parallel universe ever hook up with ours? These are the questions I'm asking and I love that the producers hinted that these are the RIGHT ones for us to do so. This episode was incredible (we got to see Charlie and Boone again!) and I loved it. *****.
Iron Man: Armored Adventures "Uncontrollable"
Consider what jerk this show made Nick Fury and Black Panther I delighted this episode was a nice return to the "Good Hulk" that I grew up with. As much as I love Wolverine And The X-Men their version of Hulk was a little too mean for my taste. It was also funny yo see MODOK again. I enjoyed the episode. ****1/2.
The Simpsons "Million Dollar Maybe"
Do you know what I noticed about this episode? The show has spent the last ten years falling into a rut and has pretty much churned out EVERY kind of predictable story the format of the show allows so I've noticed this season they've decided to do UNPREDICTABLE stories to see if that could give them some additional episode ideas. Homer winning the lottery and NOT squandering the money was a VERY unexpected twist and believable too. A LOT of poor people who win the lottery manage to spend all of the money in a short time and wind up back where they started so I completely bought the idea of Homer spending a lot of money without completely wasting all of it. The twist of Homer thinking that hurting Marge's feelings was worse than not being able to enjoy a million dollars was exactly the right tack for the episode to take. Good episode. ****.
The Cleveland Show "Our Gang"
ANY other week I would have really liked this episode which has Cleveland unwittingly becoming the leader of the drug gang. But this is the week American Dad did THEIR drug episode that was so fantastic that it blew this out of the water. Take note Cleveland Show producers: I think the proper way to make Cleveland funny is to have him completely misunderstand situations in a Three's Company manner rather than making him stupid or mean. The best episodes of the show so far have taken this tack and I hope the producers wise up and make this a regular thing. Cleveland doesn't work as an average dumb dad and misundertandings are a great way for the producers to have their cake and eat it too. ****.
Family Guy "Dial Meg For Murder"
Family Guy usually has great first and second acts and then falls apart at the climax. This episode was the opposite: it didn't start getting hilarious until Meg got back from prison and started terrorizing the family. Best line goes to Stewie: "Oh, so NOW you all can understand me". ***1/2.
American Dad "A Jones For A Smith"
The whole episode had me falling on my sides laughing but the absolute BEST bit was the crack commercial. It was SUCH a spot-on take on drug commercials that I nearly got a heart attack laughing. Great episode. ****1/2.
Community "Beginner Pottery"
Funny episode. I'm really starting to dig this show and LOVE that Britta's ultimate motivation for splitting up Annie and Practice Douche was jealously. And Abed and Troy are STILL the funniest same sex romantic couple on television. ***1/2.
Parks And Recreation "Sweetums"
Is it SO wrong that I was rooting for Ron throughout the episode? I loved his apology at the end to Leslie. I thought April and Andy's romance is turning VERY interesting? Can she overcome her nasty nature to take a chance on the guy? I want to know NOW! ***1/2.
The Office "Sabre"
I love how this show always shows the previously all together bosses who get fired turn into nutjobs once they lose their jobs. I like Micheal REALLY never wanted to see David Wallace in that light and I hope I never will again. Pam and Jim's subplot at the daycare was both cute and REALLY cringe inducing. And Ed Helms is now in the theme song! Yay! ****.
30 Rock "Verna"
I was prepared to write this episode off as a dud (VERY little Kenneth or Tracy Jordan) until the appalling and disturbingly hilarious scene of Liz sleep-eating and Frank lusting after a mother-figure on tape. That was just SO wrong and SO right on every level. ***1/2.
Red Dwarf V
This is easily Red Dwarf's darkest season yet. I've said in an earlier review that Red Dwarf stopped being a sitcom with a sci-fi premise and simply became a science fiction series with a laugh track and this season proves it. There are some actual outright terrifying moments here and some real jeopardy for the characters. Some really great episodes too.
The cast has completely gelled in their roles (ESPECIALLY Criag Charles as Dave Lister) and it's at this point in the series when all of the characters became beloved by me. It's SUCH a great show with a great cast.
Best episodes of the season are the terrifying The Inquisitor and the season finale Back To Reality. No bad episodes this year but I'm not QUITE as fond of Holoship or Terrorform as I am of the others. Season Overall: *****.
Holoship: It's weird that I'm bored with the Rimmer stuff as this could be considered one of Chris Barrie's best episode. The funniest scene for me was Lister mocking and threatening the Hologram with gusto. Hilarious. ***.
The Inquisitor: Best episode of the series thus far. Some truly scary things happen and the Inquisitor is smegging freaky. I love the sci-fi concepts the episode uses to get Lister and Kryten out of their mess and the final fate of the villain. Lister and Kryten worthless? Never! *****.
Terrorform: The episode is decent until the last ten minutes which is pretty much an excuse for a group hug. Not a bad episode but the season offered much better. ***.
Quarantine: A tour de force for Chris Barrie. Brilliant stuff with Mr. Flibble and if Rimmer's descent into madness was really all that scary the hologram he caught the virus from truly was. I also really appreciated the Luck Virus and thought that was awesome too. ****.
Demons & Angels: Another scary episode with some shocking violence and gore in it. It's also pretty funny (which The Inquisitor mostly wasn't). ****.
Back To Reality: Just because it's not as great as everybody says it is doesn't mean it isn't great. Several ideas this episode put forth were returned to later in later seasons and Back To Earth so it gets props for that too. I loved everybody's worst nightmares along I don't quite believe that Rimmer's was bad enough to want to kill himself. Everybody else's was great though. This is Hattie Hayridge's last episode as Holly and I wish she had gotten a better send-off. But nothing in life is perfect. Look for roles for Timothy Spall (The Harry Potter Movies) and Lenny Von Dohlen (Twin Peaks). ****1/2.
Heavy Science: A documentary looking back at season five. The most interesting part for me was at the end: how Rob Grant and Doug Naylor broke the horrible news to the sweet Hattie Hayridge that Holly had been written out in Series VI. She is SO awesome. ****.
Bonus Material:
Deleted Scenes: Series V Deleted Scenes: A LOT this year (40 minutes worth). The best ones were the look under the hood of The Inquisitor, the explanation as to why Rimmer could touch people in Terrorform, and the scenes between Rimmer and Nirvahnah. Great batch this series. *****.
Trailers:
Trailer 1: For Holoship. This was barely ten seconds. ***.
Trailer 2: Why is it I feel there isn't ANY sort of trailer they could do for Back To Reality that would do it justice? It's about as good as could be expected but the nature of the story (and the fear that it COULD be the series finale) is so different from any other episode. The trailer takes what could have potentially been a complete mindscrew to the audience and plays it up as a regular episode. BBC needed to think bigger. ***1/2.
Trailer 3: This was interesting. It was a video trailer for Doctor Who, Blake's 7 and Red Dwarf with the Doctor Who theme playing. Pretty spiffy. ****.
Trailer 4: A BBC video trailer for Red Dwarf and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Don't Panic! ****.
"Best Ever Episode" Introduction: Funny stuff with Craig Charles. ****.
"Skutter" Channel Idents: The video quality on these is surprisingly good. (Is this because it was computer animated?) These promos reminded me a lot of Pixar's Luxo Jr. ****1/2.
Raw Effects Footage: Some neat stuff this year. We got closer looks at the folding Holoship, the Despair Squid (!), Rimmer's Self-Loathing Monster, Red Dwarf exploding and Starbug's Caterpillar walk on the Psi Moon. Cool! ****1/2.
The SFX Of Red Dwarf V: Nice documentary showing the model-makers and puppeteers at work. ****.
"Bad Guys": A montage featuring the best villains of the series set to the song "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet". ****1/2.
Dwarfing USA: I knew this was a disaster by reputation but I had no idea of how HUGE a one it was. This wasn't just a failed pilot. This was the Hindenberg. When I got the DVD set I was disappointed that they didn't actually include this US Pilots but now there is no way I'd be interested in seeing the whole thing. I have to say I really started to loathe Linwood Boomer, even though I liked the early episodes of Malcolm in the Middle. Every decision he made was the wrong one and he kept trying to stroke his own ego despite his script being garbage. This whole thing is a great reminder of why the U.S. Torchwood will probably be a disaster too. American tastes in sitcoms tend to horrible and by trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator of audiences Hollywood producers tend to give us mindless dreck over and over again. ****.
Gallery: Big batch this year. Overall: ***1/2.
Behind The Scenes: ***1/2.
FX Designs: ****.
Production 1: ***1/2.
Production 2: ***.
Production 3: ***1/2.
Video Sleeves: ****.
Smeg Ups: Series V Smeg Ups: Funny stuff this year although surprisingly few goofs from Chris Barrie. Robert Llewellyn became this year's most valued goofball in how he kept flubbing a lot of his exposition scenes. Craig Charles made a few funny screw ups too. ****.
Music Cues: Some really intricate scoring this year. Overall: ****.
Holoship (7): Lots of Piano and Harps. ***1/2.
The Inquisitor (4): Truly frightening music. ****.
Terrorform (N/A): No music, just a three second gag. **1/2.
Quarantine (6): Madness set to music. Isn't that right, Mr. Flibble? ****.
Demons & Angels (6): Both angelic and demonic (duh). ***1/2.
Back to Reality (7): By turns downbeat, nightmarish and funky. ****.
Opening Theme: Rock Guitar Version of Fun In The Sun. *****.
Main Theme: Classic Fun In The Sun. *****.
Additional 1 (9): Mostly variations on the "2001" version of the theme but I DID notice an homage to Alexander Courage's Star Trek Theme. ***1/2.
Additional 2 (8): Incidental music. ***1/2.
Radio Sketch: "Son Of Cliche": This is an original Dave Hollins sketch which Red Dwarf was loosely based on. I noticed they use aliens here which was pretty much a no-no on the series itself. Funny stuff. ****.
Disc 1 Easter Egg #1: Back To Reality Animation: One of the better animated Easter Eggs. I loved Ed Bye wishing the episode would be rubbish and being disappointed at how great it was. ****.
Disc 1 Easter Egg #2: Commentary Booth Egg: Involving indigestion, the scene from "Alien" and Mr. Flibble. Priceless. *****.
Disc 2 Easter Egg: The Accent Question: This is speculation that Jane Leeves may have aped Robert Llewellyn and Doug Naylor's Manchester accent for the character of Daphne on Frasier. It sounds entirely plausible to me. ****.
DVD Credits: Mashed up screen with intrumental music. ***.
DVD Menu Disc One: The Red Dwarf completely wrecked with Holly gone mad. Best menu yet. *****.
DVD Menu Disc Two: Suicide Squid! Ha! *****.
Red Dawrf VI
In my opinion this is the best season of Red Dwarf (at least until Back To Earth). It's certainly my favorite and contains my favorite episode of the series (the cliffhanger Out Of Time) and the undisputed classic Gunmen Of The Apocalypse which won an Emmy.
This is the season where Rimmer got a Hard Light Drive in his Light Bee so he could actually touch stuff and Cat actually became useful. But the biggest change was setting the entire series on Starbug after Red Dwarf has gone missing. It ties this season (and the next) into a kind of cool story arc that isn't resolved until the end of Series VII.
Best episodes of the season are the epic western (Gunmen Of The Apocalypse) and the shocking season finale which sadly was not able to live up to it's promise in the first episode of season seven (Out Of Time). There are no bad episodes this year. Season Overall: *****.
Psirens: Creepy and hilarious at the same time. The way the Psiren tricked Kryten at the end was a moment of pure genius and it seems miraculous that he was STILL able to turn the tables on the bad guys at the end. Good episode. ****.
Legion: Speaking of Kryten turning the tables, the solution to THIS episode was brilliant as well (and completely logical). The best scene here is easily the dinner table scene with some great sight gags. Well done. ****1/2.
Gunmen Of The Apocalypse: A classic and one of the best episodes ever. The whole setting is wonderful as are the virtual reality games (ESPECIALLY the one at the beginning with Lister tongueing thin air). But the greatest part is the second half in the Western. Absolutely wonderful with funny jokes and a truly epic ending. Only complaint is that the episode seems to end WAAAYYY too soon but that's something that can be said for all great television. *****.
Emohawk - Polymorph II: The stuff on the GELF planet was funny but standard. The real meat of the episode didn't come until the Polymorph boarded Starbug and the forced the surprise returns of Duane Dibbley and Ace Rimmer. You could tell how excited the audience was to see these two again and it's an excitement I shared. Another good episode. ****.
Rimmerworld: This is a good episode too and probably would be considered pretty great by me if it had aired in say, season three. But it IS sort of the weak link of the entire season. It's funny, but you kind of wished for more. ***1/2.
Out Of Time: The ending still slays me and the rest of the episode has so much going on in it as well. The best thing about the ending is Rimmer's moment of heroism. It meant a LOT to me that Rimmer, who had been completely broken down and repeatedly humiliated on this show be the one to suggest them all going on a suicide mission and be the last hero standing. I almost wish they had gone with the original ending of Rimmer saving the day as the resolution to the cliffhanger wasn't very satisfying but it wouldn't have created such a demand for another series if it had gone down that way. But four years was STILL too long to wait. *****.
Raw FX Footage - Model FX: Not quite as many special effects as last year, but the ones they had were better than ever. ****.
Return To Laredo: This is a featurette of Robert Llewellyn visiting the the mock Western town where Gunmen Of The Apocalypse was taped. Interesting. ***1/2.
Deleted Scenes - Series VI Deleted Scenes: The best cuts were from Polymorph (a LOT of funny dialogue) but I want to give a special shout-out to the original ending to Out Of Time. I liked the cliffhanger but Rimmer being an unabashed hero would have been completely awesome. I wish they had stuck with the original, fan spoilers be darned. I also liked the story of how Lister got a Vindiloo tattoo. ****1/2.
Howard Goodall - Settling The Score: Cool look at the musical score of the show. I loved the extended theme lyrics, the story behind the origins of Tongue Tied and the craziness of Rimmerworld. I loved hearing Fun In The Sun played on the piano too. And yes, this interview took place before Phil Specter murdered anyone. ****1/2.
Trailers:
Trailer 1: Good picture quality for a fan VHS recording. ***1/2.
Trailer 2: Crummy picture quality, awesome trailer. *****.
Trailer 3: Brief. ***1/2.
Music Cues - Music Cues By Howard Goodall: Nice ones this year especially from Gunmen Of The Apocalypse. Overall: ****1/2.
Psirens (6): Kind of creepy. ***1/2.
Legion (5): Majestic and classy. The piano playing classical music was VERY pretty. *****.
Gunmen (11): Magnificent. I love the noirish bit at the beginng. My favorite is the Riviera Kid's Theme. *****.
Emohawk (2): Tribal Drumbeats. **1/2.
Rimmerworld (2): Bland. **1/2.
Out of Time (3): Best music is the heroic climax. ****1/2.
Opening Theme: Still love it. *****.
Main Theme: Classic. *****.
Gunmen Theme: This played over the end credits of Gunmen Of The Apocalypse. *****.
Honky-Tonk Theme: Awesome. *****.
Additional (6): Pretty good. ***.
Additional (9): Decent. ***.
"Sick" Music Featurette - Sick: Another montage. ***1/2.
Smeg Ups - Series VI Smeg Ups: Twenty minutes of bloopers. The length of this and other blooper reels from this show made me realize how many mistakes the cast make in just six episodes. The normal lengths of most American blooper reels are between five and seven minutes and that's usually for at least 22 episodes. I'd hate to be a member of the studio audience when this show was being taped. You'd spend half the time waiting for the cast to get their lines right. I also hated Craig Charles' obsession with boogers. This year's bloopers annoyed me. **.
Gallery: My favorite of the galleries so far. ****.
Production 1: ****.
Production 2: ****.
Production 3: ****.
Behind The Scenes 1: ***1/2.
Behind The Scenes 2: ***1/2.
Designs, Sets and Covers: ****.
Radio Sketch: Son Of Cliche: Another Dave Hollins sketch (which was the basis for Red Dwarf). Did you know pens are smarter than Einstein? ****.
Behind The Scenes:
Behind the Scenes Footage: No context (the documentary this was a part of was never completed) makes this VERY hard to follow. **1/2.
Interview with Andy de Emmony: A bit dry but cool nonetheless. ***.
8mm Model-Maker Footage: Grainy and Black and White behind the scenes footage of the model making process. ***1/2.
The Starbuggers: I still laugh at the story of Craig Charles completely spooking Chris Barrie's horse in Gunmen and making him go off on a wild run (along with Barrie's subsequent fury at Charles). I also find it interesting that my favorite episode of the series (Out Of Time) had so many problems and was basically written on the fly. You can't tell at all. ***1/2.
Disc One Easter Egg #1: Footage Archive: A combination of three Easter Eggs in One. I will review them seperately below. Overall: *****.
Easter Egg - Cockpit Footage: Footage of the cast in Starbug's cockpit. Cool! ****.
Easter Egg - SVC Footage #1: This is the hologram footage of Rimmer from Psirens. It's nice being able to see the whole thing. ****1/2.
Easter Egg - SVC Footage #2: The footage from the virtual reality game selection from Gunmen Of The Apocalypse. *****.
Disc One Easter Egg #2: Gunmen Of The Apocalypse Animation: Those costumes they put Rob, Ed and Doug in are truly messed up. Hilarious. ***1/2.
Disc One Easter Egg #3: Easter Egg - The Memory Man: This was funny. I love seeing when stars of shows know absolutely nothing about the shows they were actually in. ***1/2.
DVD Credits: On the Starbug monitor. ***.
DVD Menu Disc One: I miss Holly. ***1/2.
DVD Menu Disc Two: Same as Disc One except for the shots of the kitchen and the sleeping quarters in the bonus material menu. ***1/2.
Dollhouse "Epitaph Two: The Return"
I kept looking at the clock all throughout the episode because I couldn't see how they could POSSIBLY wrap everything up in ten minutes without a cliffhanger ending but danged if they didn't manage it. How was it? I liked the ending even if it DID seem like they had to rush to finish a series with a five season game plan in three episodes. They mostly managed to successfully pull it off.
Great to see Mag and Zone again and I was shocked by Paul's death (even though Topher's was expected by me). I'm glad Briya and Tony ended up together after all (which is how it should be) and everyone in the real world was turned back to normal. It's about all I could have hoped for and I'm glad Joss managed it. Good finale to a good series. ****1/2.