Television

In 1887, readers of the popular periodical Beeton's Christmas Annual were to receive quite a special treat. There wasn't much fanfare or hype to the event. Inside the pages of the magazine was a story called A Study In Scarlet. It was a detective story, perhaps like many published before, except for the detective himself, a certain Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Together with his faithful companion and chronicler Dr. Watson, Holmes would win the hearts of those holiday readers. It might have been an ordinary day, but the world was about to change. Sherlock Holmes would become the most famous detective in the world. His stories would remain in print nearly 130 years later. Over 100 films would be made featuring the character. There would be television shows and cartoon spoofs. No other character has appeared in more productions. When his creator dared to kill the beloved detective in order to move on to newer stories, his very life was threatened. It would seem that Doyle was on the verge of becoming a victim much like those in his stories. There was only one man who could save him from such a grim fate, and he did just that. It was Sherlock Holmes himself.

Today, Holmes has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence. There's been a stage production of Hounds Of The Baskervilles. Robert Downey, Jr. played a more modern action-figure version of Holmes in a very successful blockbuster film. A sequel is on the way. It seems that Holmes has more lives than a cat.

I can't help it. Whenever I see David Boreanaz I can't stop seeing the brooding vampire Angel. It's not really his fault. This character couldn't be farther from the Angel character, but that's what I see. It's also true that Bones, now entering its sixth season has been around longer than Angel. It's also very likely that he now has fans that aren't even aware of that previous character. It has been quite a few years. I'm usually better at letting go of a character once the show has ended and the actor has moved on. But there it is. Agent Booth ends up doing something silly, and it throws me for a bit of a loop. It's probably a testament to how good of an actor Boreanaz actually is, that he's ingrained himself so fully in my brain. And, I haven't watched near as many episodes of Bones, to transfer that identification. But it's Bones that's here now, and based on its current popularity, it's likely to be here for a while longer yet.

Dr. Temperance Brennan, or Bones (Deschanel) is the world's leading bone specialist. She works in Washington, D.C. for the famous Jeffersonian (I assume it's intended to be the Smithsonian). Her talents have proven themselves very helpful in solving crimes where skeletal remains are all that there is to go on from the victim. Her FBI agent/liaison is Seeley Booth (Boreanaz). Together they have an uneasy relationship that grows into a kind of friendship. The problem is that Bones doesn't have a ton of social skills. She relies on Booth to guide their social interactions. More on that later. The lab is run by Dr. Camille Saroyan (Taylor) who has become a bit of a guiding mother to the team. Dr. Hodges (Thyne) is the trace-elements expert and tries very hard to be cool and hip. He's generally the opposite of Bones. He says pretty much what comes into his head and is a bit of a science-fiction geek. Angela (Conlin) is an artist who uses her skills to reconstruct facial details from the skulls. She also works on enhancing images and restructuring evidence. She's a bit of a romantic and has probably slept with every male in the lab. Dr. Sweets (Daley) is a young FBI agent and psychologist. He profiles victims and suspects as well as serves as a counselor to the team. He's a bit over-eager at times, looking up to Booth as a mentor, of sorts. The lab also has a few interns that show up from week to week, likely depending on actor availability.

Some of you might know that even though I couldn't fight my way through a sturdy paper bag, I am an avid fan of all types of martial arts and combat sports. There is something about the grittiness of two men pounding each other into submission that keeps me riveted to my seat. My curiosity was peaked when I saw a copy of Human Weapon, Season One appear on my doorstep. Hopefully this History Channel show would help me appreciate martial art combat that much more.

Imagine traveling the globe from week to week learning about various martial art styles from the originating country. Once you get to that country, you spend a whole week in intense training from a variety of experts that happen to live there. Then you take all that you gathered that week and use it against somebody who has studied the martial art for years, perhaps even a master and try to beat him. Sound impossible? Well tell that to Jason Chambers and Bill Duff.

"My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident and I woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet. Now, maybe, if I can work out the reason, I can get back home."

I kind of did things a little backwards. I saw the single-season American version of Life On Mars quite some time before I managed to get my hands on the two seasons of the original British version of the show. The idea of a British television series being adapted for American screens is really nothing new. Lately a lot has been written about the phenomenon as if it’s some recent trendy invasion of English telly. We’ve been watching British hits since at least the 1970’s. In those days it was the sit-com that got the most attention from across the pond. Till Death Do Us Part and Steptoe And Son became All In The Family and Sanford And Son, respectively. Both shows became even bigger hits here in the states and are remembered by more folks on both continents than the originals today. The latest hit from England was The Office. Unfortunately, Life On Mars was never destined to join those Anglo/American success stories.

The teenage soap opera sensation of the 90s came to an end with this, its 10th season. As one would expect, in a season all about wrapping up storylines, along with various assorted crises, romantic and otherwise, weddings are in the offing. One is supposed to be between Kelly (Jennie Garth) and Matt (Daniel Cosgrove), but is complicated by the brooding presence of Dylan (Luke Perry). Will Kelly and Dylan sort out how they feel about each other (and I note with amusement that the jacket copy describes the relationship between these two twenty-somethings as “age-old”)? Perhaps more promising is the wedding between David (Brian Austin Green) and Donna (Tori Spelling), which provides a reason for most of the cast, past and present (minus the problematic Shannon Doherty) to reassemble for the grand finale.

This was always a pretty slick package, and for all that it was about terminally pretty people, the series did delve into some heady topics (gay bashing is one that is handled this season). But the overpowering odor of cheese was never far away (I remember a particularly hilarious studio-set version of Paris that the gang visited), and how did anyone ever take Perry's Poor Man's James Dean impression seriously? This will be an enjoyable nostalgic trip for fans, though, and a startling reminder of how many cast members became household names, only to plunge into the Where Are They Now File within seconds of the series' cancellation.

"They rob, kill, and terrorize, and they've left their mark on our nation's history."

Lock ‘n’ Load is a hidden camera reality TV series that is based out of a gun shop in Colorado.  The show is centered on the gun shop proprietor Josh T. Ryan.  He interjects himself into every story and casually interviews each customer.  The show attempts to personify each gun owner and provides a background for each purchase.  The show is marketed as a comedy but I found myself rarely laughing.

 Josh T. Ryan is the host of the show and is too frequently involved in each story.  In the later episodes there are personalized interviews with the customers without the host.  These interviews are far more thought provoking; as they contextualize the customer’s story as to what made them purchase a gun. The show needs to incorporate more of the customer and less of the host. Audiences are far more likely to identify with a common person than a caricature.

Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt) is basically the kid from The Sixth Sense, only with boobs, killer cheekbones, and a formerly lucrative pop career. I may not be entirely accurate about that last item, but until this 6-disc set arrived, I had not really watched the show. It always seemed a little too Touched by an Angel meets The Sixth Sense meets Jennifer Love Hewitt’s aforementioned cheekbones for my taste. Upon viewing the episodes in this set, I pretty much stand behind that assessment, and though it is still not my particular cup of tea, I can understand its appeal to its fans.

The show revolves around Melinda’s ability to communicate with ghosts, spirits of the dead who have unfinished business in this realm and are unable to cross over to the next world. Whether that’s heaven or another dimension is never expanded on in the show, so it avoids awkward questions about religion. In most episodes, she comes in contact with one of these troubled spirits, and then spends the episode working out what happened to them, what’s keeping them from crossing over, and things of that nature. She does this with the help of a stalwart group of friends, some of who have abilities of their own. Jamie Kennedy’s character, for example, can’t see but can hear dead people. A second gifted character is introduced in this season, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

The Trailer Park Boys are household names in Canada; the central characters even more than the show itself. The mockumentary TV series has been a cult sensation since its inception in 2001, right through its seven seasons and two feature films. Here is the introduction to Ricky, Julian, Bubbles and other charmers from the Sunnyvale Trailer Park.

To praise this show seems nearly redundant as its worldwide success and popularity certainly stands on its own. Nevertheless, this truly is a show that should be praised for managing to have brilliant subtle humour amidst the very loud and lowbrow style of humour it is best known for. As well, there is a certain level of Pathos that one might not think possible from such a motley crew but alas, many of us know people eerily similar to these lads, and can see their natural drive to avoid a painful life and strive for true happiness....yes, yes, all the while growing marijuana and robbing places.

Grace, California is the kind of “small” town that all the young people wish to escape. Why? I suppose it is because they have ambitions for “greater” things. What are their ambitions while they have to stay? To be as catty and backstabbing as possible while living out a teen soap opera existence. Such is the groundwork for Seven Deadly Sins, a two-part mini-series created for the Lifetime network and based on a series of books of the same name. On this DVD the two parts are merged into a monstrous movie (clocking in at over 3 hours).

The story starts when a new girl arrives from Manhattan and uses the fact that she has designer merchandise and a snobby attitude to usurp the throne as coolest girl in school, all the while making a best friend out of the very girl she usurped. As the story progresses we are offered no more than the usual teen drama prattle of high school cliques, “who likes who” and “who betrayed who” which I frankly could care less about. Things do not perk my interest until a central character dies, only to have their ghost linger as the narrator and sometime provoker of events for her still living friends. It is through this implementation of the supernatural that the film desperately tries to tie in the “Seven Deadly Sins” theme, but it is VERY loose ties that it makes. Really, one should not come up with a provocative, albeit over-used, title first and worry about what it actually means to the story and characters second.