Thoughts on Fringe Season 4 Premiere Neither Here Nor There

by Amy Yen

More than almost any other show on TV, it’s wonderful to have Fringe back, just in terms of my almost complete certainty that I will get an enjoyable hour of television. The only other show I would put in its class would be Parks and Recreation (whose premiere was excellent, btw). Fringe is wonderful because even when it’s not quite what you want it to be, it has so many layers & interesting things to think about, it will still almost always be better than 95% of everything else on TV.

So, the season 4 premiere, “Neither Here Nor There,” wasn’t quite the epic mythology piece we were all not-so-secretly hoping for. Instead, the producers (or more likely, the network) decided to backtrack on last year’s (wise, I thought) decision to abandon all notion that they were going to attract any new viewers & just went neck-deep into the mythology. Maybe it’s that the sudden surge in genre-friendly Friday programming re-opens up the possibility of people discovering the show…but I have to say, as much as I thought this episode (& from what I understand the first part of this season) was trying to be as accessible as possible, I can’t imagine someone tuning in for the first time & the first scene being Olivia Dunham arguing with an alternate version of herself.

So, maybe I don’t know so much about this new direction, but I did think this episode did do a good job of setting up the new dynamics of the season, at least for the blueverse, & also introducing a lot of very interesting questions about how characters are affected by Peter Bishop’s being erased from the timeline. It did a particularly good job of re-introducing the blueverse version of Lincoln Lee, who in this timeline, never investigated the “Stowaway” case with Peter & Bellivia last year.

I loved the first scene with Lincoln at his partner’s house. What a remarkable little scene. Think about it, it’s the only scene with the partner & it makes you care about him in about three minutes. And it makes you care about, understand, this Lincoln we barely know, with the combed-down hair & the dorky glasses & buttoned-up suit & tie. (Again, such a simple & elegant job of contrasting him with the cocky, wild-haired Lincoln we know from the redverse.) But in three minutes, you get him.

As dorktastic as this Lincoln is, he is both completely capable on handling himself & also shows himself to be as naturally brilliant of an investigator as he is on the other side. It’s again smart writing because this Lincoln is totally different from the one we know, but you can see that they’re still the same person, the same way Walter & Walternate and Olivia & Fauxlivia are.

I really liked Olivia’s slow acceptance of Lincoln throughout the episode, how difficult it was, despite the fact we knew it was going to happen. Lincoln has to prove several times that he is a good investigator & a worthy partner for this Olivia, who has been alone for so long (“There is no one else. There is only me”). It is because Seth Gabel is so compelling in portraying this version of him (essentially a brand new character) that I didn’t miss Peter’s presence much at all this episode.

Not to say I wasn’t constantly thinking about how Peter’s absence affected things (more about this in the bullets), it’s just that Lincoln being there makes it less urgent to me that they bring him back immediately. I think they can take their time & let the story play out. Of course, I have no idea how it will. I’m still confused about September the Observer & his increasingly bizarre actions. Wasn’t Peter being erased from the timeline what he predicted (& presumably caused somehow)? Why is he suddenly so queasy about finishing the job?

So, overall, I’m still not convinced on whether this whole Peter storyline is a good one or not, but Fringe is one of those shows that has earned itself a lot of blind trust on my part. It’s not like I won’t be tuning in. And you should too.

Other random thoughts about “Neither Here Nor There”:

• Orange (oh as EW pointed out, amber!) credits. Among the new phrases listed: Viral therapy, quantum entanglement, time paradox, psychic surgery, gravitons, existence. As vague as usual, except for quantum entanglement, which we’ve already dealt with. And existence, which seems…ominous.
• “He just never had anything to tether him to the world.” The subtle & not-so-subtle differences in all the characters, the Peter-shaped hole in their lives, are all pretty fascinating. Olivia & Walter are pretty obvious, but the brief bits we get with Fauxlivia seem telling too. She’s definitely not quite as likable as she had grown to be last year. She’s back to who she was in Over There Part 2, when she first made the switch & infiltrated our side. Except in this timeline, she didn’t fall for Peter, didn’t change & start to care, didn’t ever come to want to stop Walternate.
• I wonder if that also means that redverse Lincoln & Charlie never came to suspect Walternate’s evil ways, since Fauxlivia’s non-pregnancy means they probably never found out about the switch. Can’t wait to see how things are changed in the redverse.
• Interesting that the blueverse Fringe division is both more official (& has seemingly more resources) & more secret in this timeline. Wonder why that would change, based on Peter not being there.
• The translucent people/pseudo-shape-shifters quite deliberately called back to John Scott’s condition in the pilot. I even thought for a second this might turn out to be the same case…a situation in which Olivia & John never caught up to the bad guy from that episode, so he never exploded his lab or John.
• “Just so you know, I know what it’s like.” So in this timeline, John Scott never recovered at all? Is that because Peter never forced the suspect to talk using completely illegal interrogation techniques?
• “There’s more than one.” Oh, we know. We know.
• One glaring thing that does still need to be explained regarding the new timeline: if Peter never existed or died as a child, how did the chain of events leading up to the universes merging even happen? Because we know in the original timeline, it all started when Walter ripped a hole between universes to try to save the Peter from over there. If he never did that, what caused all the damage on both sides that is referenced by the Olivias in this episode?
• “What I do know is that this tech isn’t from here.” “Not from here? You mean like, from China?” “No. Not China.” Heh.
• The red room scan totally gave me Alias flashbacks.
• Love the grin on Fauxlivia’s face when she spots Lincoln. Seriously can’t wait for the Lincolns to meet each other.
• After seeing Ringer, I’ve gained a whole new appreciation of just how good the Fringe cast, particularly Anna Torv & John Noble, is at playing against themselves.
• “Sometimes answers lead to more questions.” I would say, almost always, in a JJ-verse.

Ad Post: Allstate Mayhem Facebook Page

by Amy Yen

Allstate Insurance Mayhem Facebook Page
Agency: Leo Burnett Chicago

One of the most enjoyable ad campaigns out there right now is Allstate Insurance’s “Mayhem” ads, featuring one of my favorite character actors, Dean Winters (Ryan O’Reily on Oz, Dennis Duffy on 30 Rock, Johnny Gavin on Rescue Me, Charley Dixon on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). Hilarious & with an impressive rewatchability factor, the most impressive thing about the campaign is its simple, well-illustrated message, with each ad ending in longtime Allstate spokesman Dennis Haysbert’s familiar voiceover.

“Mayhem”‘s Facebook page is equally impressive, boasting more than a million fans & one of the most innovative uses of the space I’ve seen. In addition to the expected video tab, which has all of “Mayhem” TV spots, there’s also a “Quote For a Quote” tab, which offers fans a free t-shirt with a quote from the commercials (including “Shaky, Shaky” from the Random Wind Storm spot & “OMG Becky’s not even hot!” from the pink SUV spot) if they sign up for a free auto insurance quote. Most fun of all is the “Meet Mayhems” tab, which is a Brady Bunch-esque interactive ad featuring nine different Mayhems, all of them constantly moving & interacting with each other as you click on them to get their stories, including “Dryer Lint Mayhem,” “Racoon With an Ex-Racoon-Wife Mayhem,” “Thin Sheet of Ice Mayhem” & “Other Thin Sheet of Ice Mayhem.” All of them are hilarious & it takes some time to get get through all of them, in what is an amazing execution of an interactive banner.

Winters continues to be brilliant & the copy writers are truly outdoing themselves as this campaign only seems to be getting more creative as it goes along. (Even the TV spots are only getting funnier. The most recent ads include Blind Spot ["You're good!"] & best of all, Raccoon ["I've already had, like, four babies."].) Really terrific work in a tough product category.

 

Ad Post: CW The Secret Circle Entertainment Weekly Insert

by Amy Yen

The CW: The Secret Circle print insert
Agency: CW promotions department

Check out this elaborate print insert from the CW in the September 9th issue of Entertainment Weekly promoting their new fall show,The Secret Circle. The two-page insert opens up to an interactive ad of the show’s witch characters holding a candle, which the reader can light up by touching metal disks embedded in the ad. Touching the disks also activates an audio commercial for the show. The instructions on the ad tell the reader to blow out the candle to “protect [their] secret.” Sure enough, blowing on the ad activates a wind sensor in the ad & turns off the lighted candle.

An impressive, no doubt hugely expensive placement, it’s certainly attention-grabbing, with the insert bulking up the issue & the hardstock paper and various interactive components difficult to miss while flipping through the magazine. The CW is clearly putting a lot of promotion behind The Secret Circle, which is debuting behind their biggest hit, The Vampire Diaries, also from creator Kevin Williamson & also based on LJ Smith novels. I’ll definitely be giving it a shot, because of the good will Williamson buys, although honestly, despite the fact that the CW has successfully gotten my attention with its promotion, I don’t find the previews themselves to be particularly compelling. Watch a 6-minute preview here.

Instructions on the CW's interactive print insert for The Secret Circle (click to enlarge)

Thoughts on Doctor Who Series 6.5 Premiere Let’s Kill Hitler

by Amy Yen

“No, she will be amazing.”

Oh, the twisty-turny, timey-wimey, crazy, tragic, brilliant, impossible life of River Song. How do we even begin to talk about River Song?

So it turns out, everything about the River Song we know is a paradox. Her TARDIS blue diary, the “spoilers” she always warns about, “Rule 1: The Doctor Lies,” all of it came from the Doctor himself, who got it from River. Even her name, both of her names, are paradoxes. Amy names her baby after Mel, who is her baby. River takes her name from the Doctor, after the Doctor knows her as River. It’s impossible. She‘s impossible.

So we finally meet River at the start of her story, so long after meeting her at the end. She’s been hiding in plain sight this whole time. “You got to raise me after all,” she tells Amy & Rory, & it’s an awesome idea, the girl who grew up with Amy & her imaginary friend. It’s such an awesome idea, I only wish there had been a few more plants for it. As it is, it does seem odd their best friend isn’t at their wedding or in any of the many scenes of their life in Leadworth, particularly in “The Eleventh Hour.”

So “Mel” regenerates into the future River & man, does Alex Kingston so clearly have a blast with Regeneration Cycle River, who is as spazzy & insane & fantastic as Eleven was when he first appeared. And she uses all of her remaining regenerations in one go, which doesn’t make sense on a number of levels, not the least of which is that it was established in the Sarah Jane Adventures last year that time lords can most likely continue regenerating indefinitely. But it does conveniently explain why River doesn’t renegerate in the Library, so I guess that’s a plot hole we’ll ignore.

“Let’s Kill Hitler” was full of answers, sometimes almost to a surreal degree (particularly when the Doctor accesses the Justice Department robot’s records on the Silence). But there are still plenty more left. The Silence is a movement based around the oldest question in the universe, hiding in plain sight (a familiar Moffat theme). Which is what? The Doctor now knows of his impending death, which we knew was going to happen since he has to set up the blue envelopes. But we still don’t know the goal of that exercise, since it still can’t be to save him, because we know now the Doctor’s death is apparently a fixed point in time. So how are they going to get out of this now?

More random thoughts on “Let’s Kill Hitler“:

• Love Amy & Rory’s crop circle signal to the Doctor. It’s interesting that this is the first I think we’ve seen companions getting extended breaks on Earth in the middle of their adventures & getting the Doctor’s attention this way. If I remember right, before the Doctor had Martha’s phone, companions on Earth never had a way of contacting him again. Or I guess they did, but they just weren’t as clever as Amy & Rory.
• “Permission?” “Granted.” I do love Rory & the Doctor’s revolving mutual perception of each other. The Doctor respecting Rory more & more, Rory accepting the Doctor’s role in Amy’s (& his) life.
• The Justice Department robot thing is really cool, such a neat idea. Executed wonderfully, like Mystique in the X-Men movies. And for another comparison, the inside control room was totally Enterprise all the way.
• Rory was extra awesome this episode & I can’t tell you how nice it is to see him taking a more active part in all these adventures. “Shut up, Hitler!” “Right, putting Hitler in the cupboard. In you go!”
• “Time can be rewritten. Remember Kennedy?” Wait, what?
• “Guilt…also guilt…more guilt!” Man, Ten’s companions were emotionally scarring for him. Also, interesting moment when he rejects the image of himself, “No, give me someone I like!” The Dream Lord was right after all.
• The TARDIS tells the Doctor regeneration has been disabled. Why? How? This is never explained & it’s a troublesome plot hole.
• “I’m trapped inside a giant robot replica of my wife. I’m really trying not to see this as a metaphor.” HA! Also, Robot Amy? Exceptionally creepy. And nice job with the dead eyes, Karen Gillan.
• Sonic cane!
• River is the child of the TARDIS…so the TARDIS teaches her how to fly. It’s lovely & makes perfect sense.
• This was Matt Smith’s best performance yet. He’s just so brilliant.
• “As far as first dates go, I’d say that was mixed signals.” I can’t even put into words how fantastic the dialogue Steven Moffat writes is sometimes.

Everything is amazing.

Dallas Mavericks: 2010-2011 NBA Champions

Thoughts on JJ Abrams’ Super 8

by Amy Yen

[Note: Don't worry, I made a very deliberate attempt to keep this post as spoiler-free as possible.]

About a week ago, when the embargo lifted on press reviews for JJ Abrams’ Super 8, I actually started to get worried because my expectations for this movie had seriously reached impossibly high levels. There was literally no way this movie could be as good as it’d set itself up to be. It’s not like I was ever a maybe to see this film. From the moment the teaser trailer broke, with the names JJ Abrams & Steven Spielberg attached, I was in. I own Alias the complete series on DVD, I’m the kind of Lost & Fringe fan that listens to podcasts about those shows & reads their wikis to make sure I don’t miss anything. Basically, this movie was tailor-made for geeks such as myself.

So when, in the midst of a last-minute publicity play by Paramount to build word-of-mouth buzz among the younger movie-going generation (of which I’m actually technically a part of) for whom the Spielberg nostalgia factor is less relatable, a free advance secret screening was offered via a couple of my favorite film blogs (/Film & First Showing), I decided to go despite the minimum three hour wait in line (it ended up being more like four for me, with more than 200 people ahead of me & another 300 or so behind).

Honestly, I can’t really think of another film in recent times I would have done this for this close to the release date. And you know what? I don’t regret it at all. Because dammit, I loved Super 8.

It’s not perfect. It’s not even close. But it was exactly what I wanted it to be. It was funny & scary & emotional & somehow both nostalgic & original at the same time. I watched most of it smiling & when it was over, I immediately wanted to see it again. It was mint, y’all. (You’ll get that after you see it. I think we should all work together & make mint happen.)

The kids were the best thing about it. I love Kyle Chandler from all the way back to his Early Edition days & I think, because of the depth of emotion he was able to convey in just a few scenes, there could have been a whole (very different) movie just about Jack Lamb & his struggle to overcome his grief while learning to connect with his son. But this isn’t Jack Lamb’s story. It’s a story about these kids & these kids were perfect. Seriously, could not have been better casting, particularly Joel Courtney & Elle Fanning, for different reasons. Joel Courtney, who makes his acting debut here, is perfect because he feels real. Joe Lamb is really just a kid dealing with a bunch of stuff someone his age shouldn’t ever have to deal with, if the world was fair. Elle Fanning, on the other hand, is luminous, perfect in that way that only girls boys have crushes on at that age can be. You can actually see her becoming a movie star right before your eyes.

There’s something so incredibly real & un-Hollywood about the interactions between all of the kids in the film, especially Joe & Alice, and Joe & Charles. Innocent, pre-teen love, & a rift between friends because you both like the same girl. It’s just so perfect, it’s easy to think JJ Abrams must have lived through these characters, must have had friends like these.

All the auxiliary characters were colorful & wonderful too, Donny the film store guy, Charles’ big crazy family. The other kids in Charles’ movie, especially Cary the pyromaniac. In fact, everybody in this movie felt real & three-dimensional except for, unfortunately, the monster. There’s an admirable attempt to give the monster a story too, which is more than you can say about the one in Cloverfield, but it doesn’t quite work for me, except for in the ways in which it affects the kids. In other words, I never care about the monster & I think I was supposed to.

Still, I found Super 8 an immensely enjoyable, wonderful summer movie & I hope it makes a ton of money just so studios will maybe take more chances on non-franchise projects again. This is a movie you should see with your family, your friends. It’s for anyone who remembers the childhood friends you would have done anything for and for anyone who just loves films & film-making. See it the way I did, smiling & humming “My Sharona” all the way to the car.

More random thoughts on Super 8:

• No post-credit sequence, but something awesome runs during the actual credits, so stick around.
• The crowd cheered at both the Amblin & the Bad Robot bumpers. My kind of crowd.
• Michael Giacchino’s score was, once again, wonderful. It rang so true to those old Spielberg films without running directly into John Williams.
• The opening scene of this movie are among the most affecting images you’ll see in a film. So simple, yet tells an entire story in just a few frames. A brilliant way to set up the rest of the film. A different writer would have written out an entire scene that actually showed what happened, it’s remarkable how effective it was to do it this way instead.
• Loved the trademark JJ humor. The dialogue was great & honestly, the credit scene is the most delightful thing ever.
• The train crash really was great, better than anything you see in the trailer because, again, it’s framed around the kids, their terror & panic. You’re right in the middle of everything, it’s great.
• Watch closely to catch all the JJ Easter eggs & staples, including Slusho, Building 47 &, apparently, both Greg Grunberg & Amanda Foreman.
• Also trademark JJ? Lens flares. At this point, I find them more delightfully familiar than distracting. He certainly does have a visual style.
• I would kill to see JJ Abrams & Matt Reeves’ old super 8 films.
• If you missed it, go read this terrific, long New York Times profile on JJ Abrams. That man loves his mysteries.

Thoughts on Doctor Who Series 6 Spring Finale A Good Man Goes to War

by Amy Yen

“He’s not a warrior.”
“Then why is he called ‘The Doctor’?”

River Song says it best in the end. Is this what The Doctor thought he would become? Feared? Stories about him whispered between soldiers? It’s not like he doesn’t know it’s happening. He says as much in “The Pandorica Opens,” stands on a rock at Stonehenge & says to his enemies above him, “Remember every black day I ever stopped you!” And finally, thankfully, somebody says aloud what we’ve all been thinking.

Is this The Doctor? Because the Doctor I remember doesn’t ever use his sonic screwdriver as a weapon, pointing it tip-first at flesh-Amy. He wouldn’t let Jack Harkness use his gun on Futurekind trying to kill them, so he definitely wouldn’t insight a gun battle between the cleric soldiers & the Headless Monks. He wouldn’t pantomime guns as Danny-Boy destroys the Demon’s Run communications array. He wouldn’t force the colonel in this episode to give the order to “run away,” just to humiliate him.

I don’t know who that is, but that is not the Doctor.

“Look, I’m angry, that’s new. I’m really not sure what’s going to happen now.” It isn’t new, not really. Remember what Ten did to the Family of Blood? I don’t know when exactly it happened, because it wasn’t simply when Eleven took over (remember he still pointed his screwdriver up to malfunction the Silurians’ weapons & even his disdain for all his enemies’ “silly little guns” in the aforementioned ”Pandorica Opens” speech), but at some point, the Doctor became less empathetic, more okay with violence, okay with being feared, maybe a little too in love with being the Oncoming Storm, the last time lord. And because it’s mostly fun to watch him show off, we mostly just went with it, but I for one am relieved that it appears this was at least partially intentional, or at least that Moffatt & the producers are aware of the discrepancy, the change in this very, very established character.

River Song calls him out, in his darkest hour. And then she tells him her secret. Brings the spark back into his eyes. Makes him know, instantly, what to do next. Gives him hope.

Hopefully, it will also signal a return to the Doctor we know & love. Because it’s not like I didn’t like this episode or the first half of this unfortunately split series. But the Doctor’s empathy & kindness & mercy is what makes him a different kind of hero, & it’d be sad to lose what makes him special.

More random thoughts on “A Good Man Goes to War“:

• So River Song is Amy & Rory’s daughter after all. Even though this was probably the most popular guess of any of the theories out there, it still gave me chills to actually hear it. Although, how does this “change everything” with the Doctor & River’s relationship? If anything, you would think it improves it, now that he knows. Then why did she spend so much time last year apologizing for when the Doctor finally finds out who she is?
• Don’t forget, we still don’t know who it is she killed to get sent to prison. “A very good man.” Maybe one that went to war?
• “The only water in the forest is the river.” I always thought that Amy’s last name being Pond & River’s name being River had to be significant somehow. Nice to see this pay off.
• A lot of callbacks in this episode to previous one-off characters, much like the beginning of “The Pandorica Opens.” Of course these callbacks weren’t really that cool, since they involved sub-par episodes like “Victory of the Daleks,” “Cold Blood” & “Curse of the Black Spot.” It was kind of fun to see Dorium, the black marketer that River Song tricked into giving her a vortex manipulator last series.
• Lorna Bucket turned out to be kind of a disappointing one-off character. Not because of anything she did, just because I kept waiting for her to turn out to be someone important, someone maybe that we already met (maybe a younger River Song). Too bad the Doctor remembered their encounter in the Gamma Forest, or else I’d think we’d see that adventure yet. As it is, I guess she’s just there for the Doctor to be sad over & to give Amy the clue that eventually reveals River’s identity.
• The Headless Monks are not scarier than either the Silence or the Weeping Angels in concept, but in execution, they are creepy as hell.
• Rory was kind of really awesome in this episode. Yes, having him be in the Centurion outfit is kind of random & silly, but it’s also still kind of cool. His showdown with the Cybermen was a nice moment, as was his meeting with River (although the best part is her reaction to seeing him, especially on the second watch-through when you know what she knows…this is her father).
• The bit at the beginning, with Amy telling her daughter that her father is coming…”He looks young but he’s lived for hundreds of years”…was that really necessary? Just for that little moment before she says The Last Centurion when you think, WTF? Seriously? They’re really going to go there with it being the Doctor’s kid? Really? I just thought, OMG give it a rest already. The more they try to put tension in the Amy/Rory/Doctor “triangle,” the more irritating I find it. Just let them be! I promise you, you will find that all three characters can stand on their own now. Really.
• Autumn 2011. Ugh!

Five Intriguing Pilot Previews From Upfronts (and One Catastrophic One)

by Amy Yen

Upfronts are over & the five major networks (I’m feeling generous to the CW today) have released previews to all their new fall projects. I’m not going to lie to you. There are some seriously horrible-looking TV shows in there. Like, there were literally some where, based on the premise, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the two-minute preview. There’s one so offensive, I’m going to share it here with you today, just to prove that somebody who works for a major TV network actually thought it was a good idea that people would be psyched to watch.

But before I do, here are five pilots that actually look pretty great:

1) Awake (NBC, Midseason)

The single most fascinating thing on the entire NBC programming slate, obviously, it got banished to midseason. (Falmpalm, NBC.) Awake (formerly known as REM) has a great dual-reality premise & hopefully it can execute on that potential. I think it would be interesting for it to do an every-other-episode format, like Fringe did with its alternate universes early this season. Additionally, the idea that his realities cross over, with his cases-of-the-week on one side affecting the other, is a really interesting one. I really hope this show is as good as it looks, because it looks really, really good.

2) Person of Interest (CBS, Thursdays at 9pm ET)

It should come as no surprise that my list will include not one but two JJ Abrams mystery dramas. The surprise for me is that Person of Interest, his CBS procedural collaboration with Jonathan Nolan, actually looks a little more interesting to me than Alcatraz, his FOX island-centric time travel mystery. There’s a lot to like about the POI preview, the most obvious being Michael Emerson being his brilliant, morally-ambiguous self. The action looks really solid & the premise has both the obligatory case-of-the-week aspect that should satisfy the CBS audience & the foundation for a really interesting JJ Abrams mythology. What more can you ask for?

3) Alcatraz (FOX, Mondays at 9pm ET – Midseason)

Alcatraz also looks interesting enough, altogether this trailer kind of reminds me of the first Fringe trailer in that in it of itself, it doesn’t particularly make me salivate to see more. It’s more that it has some elements that are somewhat interesting: good casting, good pedigree, good production values, a sci-fi-skewing premise. Let’s face it, it’s JJ Abrams. I will be watching. Like POI, it sounds like they are going to try to make Alcatraz more standalone than serial, but then, they said the same thing about Fringe & look how good that got. Plus, you have to trust FOX to let JJ be JJ more than you can trust CBS.

4) Terra Nova (FOX, Mondays at 8pm ET)

The reports about how hard it’s been getting this show going are kind of worrisome, but the trailer looks fun. It’s got that Jurassic Park Spielberg vibe & I like Jason O’Mara as a lead. Funny enough, one of the most interesting parts of the trailer IMO is one that’s most likely not going to be part of the show at all, which is the vision of the dystopic future, where everyone is wearing masks to breathe & apparently trying to escape a dying world. That’s a future I would have like to see more of. But, it is an inherently interesting premise, the idea of sending people to the past to escape the future & who doesn’t like a good dinosaur chase? Could be fun.

5) Ringer (CW, Tuesdays at 9pm ET)

I kind of wanted to include a CW show & the two most promising ones are Ringer, which was rejected by sister network CBS (for which it would have been completely inappropriate for), and Secret Circle, the latest from Kevin Williamson, which, like Vampire Diaries, was also adapted from an LJ Smith series of novels. Because of the good will Williamson has built up with Vampire Diaries, which rises above its premise to actually be a very good drama, and the casting of Thomas Dekker, who was very good in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I will definitely at least give Secret Circle a shot. But Ringer definitely looks like a better bet for a good story & it’s nice to see Sarah Michelle Gellar back on TV.

On the not-so-great side, there were many, many horrendous-looking comedies, including Free Agents, Whitney, Are You There Vodka, It’s Me, Chelsea, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Last Man Standing,  (seriously, haven’t we, as a society, moved past laugh tracks?), but the worst, the WORST, is this:

Work It (ABC, Midseason)

The fact that this was thought up by somebody & somebody else thought enough of it to order it as a pilot & somebody else thought enough of it to order it to series is unfathomable to me. Apparently delusion runs rampant during pilot season among network execs because this show? Appeals to nobody. I am actually offended by this is being offered to us as entertainment & I am telling advertisers right now, I will think less of your brand if you show a commercial during this show.

Look, I love TV & I just want it to be good, that’s all. It makes me sad when I see trash like this being introduced when quality shows like Parks & Recreation (which, btw, had a brilliant season finale) have to fight to stay on the air every year. So what I’m trying to say, networks, is try harder.

For a full breakdown of the fall TV schedule, go here.

Thoughts on The Vampires Diaries Season 2 Finale As I Lay Dying

by Amy Yen

Slow clap, guys. That was kind of…incredible. I will admit it, I thought it was probably going to be a mistake not to make last week’s insane sacrifice episode the season finale, but once again, Kevin Williamson & Julie Plec proved me wrong. “As I Lay Dying” was a breathtaking end to a fantastic season and against all odds, The Vampire Diaries has truly become one of the most compelling dramas on television.

Where to start? I thought the Damon storyline was handled really well. I’m so glad, besides the obligatory moment where, in his delirium, he bites Elena while flashing back to his time with Katherine, they mostly avoided retreading the Rose arc, with Elena being in danger. The final scene with Elena & Damon was quiet & lovely & just perfect. It so wonderfully captures why we would root for these two. I know Twitter basically exploded because of “the kiss,” but it was really well-done, as usual, on Nina Dobrev’s part. She was saying goodbye.

Meanwhile, the Stefan and Klaus storyline sets up nicely for season 3. It’s a really interesting place for the character to go. We saw a glimpse of Stefan-on-human-blood back in season 1 (I remember him being about 3.5 times more interesting than normal). It will be really interesting to see whether the show dares to keep him away from Mystic Falls for long & how Elena will react to Stefan, unleashed. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that Elena admitted that, as much as she loves Stefan, she doesn’t want to commit to forever to be with him. Stefan, like this, in a way embodies what she must fear the most about becoming a vampire.

Two more storylines I want to touch on (SO MUCH happened in this episode!). Jeremy getting shot…wow. Did not see that coming. I liked that it was the sheriff that did it, as much as she drove me crazy this episode. At the end of the day, John’s ring isn’t going to help stop a bullet from a gun being held by Liz Forbes. There’s something so grounding about that. I didn’t see the Anna & Vicki thing coming…consequences! I’m glad it looks like Jeremy will get his own supernatural subplot next season. Like he said, there’s only so many times he can tag along & be worried about Bonnie & get shut out of the action just because he’s just a human.

The only subplot that bothered me was the sheriff & Caroline. I was really skeptical about the whole Matt & Liz subplot in the last few episodes, just because of how removed it was from everything else happening. I thought they did a decent job weaving it in, just by throwing another complication into a really packed finale. But it still felt like kind of a retread on that wonderful scene earlier in the season (Caroline even references it) when Caroline tells her mother everything & her mother accepts her & she has to compel her to forget anyway. I half-expected the sheriff to stake her when they hugged (tells you what kind of show you’re watching), but instead it just felt kind of disconnected. I half want to see more follow-up on this, but mostly I kind of just want them to move on. Still, it will be interesting to see how they deal with all these people now knowing what they know next year.

I want to conclude by addressing the American television viewing public, which is forever ignoring all the great advice I’m constantly trying to give them & spending their time watching an alarming amount of terrible VH1 reality shows. Please ignore the CW’s criminally awful attempts at marketing The Vampire Diaries. Yes, it looks like a Twilight knock-off. Attractive vampires fighting attractive werewolves, attractively. (To be fair, this was an actual storyline, but I swear, it was really well-done, I SWEAR!) I was skeptical too. But the show is actually really fun, moves at a break-neck pace, has strong acting & complex, complicated characters and is just really good, really compelling drama.

So yeah, come season 3, make it a part of your life.

More random thoughts on “As I Lay Dying”:

• Elijah, you fool! You’re lucky you’re so pretty, because for someone who is so calm & reasonable-seeming, you have an emotional weakness you can drive a truck through. Luckily, it’s clear this isn’t the last we’ll see of him, or Katherine for that matter.
• I really liked Alaric in this episode. I liked that he was bitter about being shut out of the goings-on last week, even though he has to know there was probably nothing he could have done to save Jenna. I liked his continued strange, strong friendship with Damon (“Neither of us are drunk enough for this conversation”). I really liked his moment of lightness with Jeremy at the end. Even though Katherine is no longer stuck in his apartment (which I thought would have been a natural device to drive him to move in to the Gilbert house), I hope that Alaric becomes Elena & Jeremy’s legal guardian next year. I feel like at this point, he should have more stakes than just his loyalty to Damon. Alaric as a character has so much potential, I really hope they give him more to do before killing him off, as seems inevitable at some point.
• Really, Gone With the Wind screening, complete with cosplay? Really? I know Mystic Falls is in the south, but seriously, do places where stuff like this actually happen actually exist?
• I just want to say, I never really liked Bonnie that much. Or, I should say, I never really liked Kat Graham. Something about her interaction with fans when the show was first becoming popular rubbed me the wrong way. But seriously? She killed it this season. Her scene tonight, with Jeremy lifeless in her arms (“I love him”), was played just right. She’s totally won me over.
• The music in this episode was ridiculous, even by CW standards. At times it was so loud, it was drowning out the dialogue. A good score can be its own character, but they’re trying way too hard to sell CDs & it’s just another reason why I hate that this show is on this network.
• PS: I think I’m going to write a post after the finale, but just want to say, Parks & Recreation right now? Could. Not. Be. Better.

Xerox Personalized Direct Marketing Makes an Impact at PRINTEGR8

by Amy Yen

Just wanted to share this very cool piece of direct marketing I received at PRINTEGR8, a lunch seminar sponsored by Westamerica Graphics today on integrated marketing and print communications. Xerox, one of the exhibitors, gave out personalized calendars for everyone who pre-registered for the event. The calendars had each attendee’s name integrated into images on the pages for each month to create a unique takeaway for everyone who attended.

The piece backed up Market Development Manager of Graphic Communications Toni Schottenhammer‘s presentation, in which she presented case studies on using database marketing to increase the ROI of direct mail campaigns by personalizing the message to each recipient.

Check out Xerox’s personalized calendar (now hanging in my apartment ):