Category: TV Action (Page 143 of 145)

“The Greatest American Hero” & The Power of DVD

November 25, 2005 / Jason Thompson

I’ve really been enjoying being able to watch “The Greatest American Hero” again thanks to good old DVD. Lots of genuinely funny moment between the Ralph Hinckley and Bill Maxwell characters (the Hinckley character’s name was briefly changed to “Hanley” for an episode or two after John Hinckley did his wicked little trick), and Connie Sellica never looked hotter. Definitely up there on my list of all-time TV babes (though why she decided to shack up with John Tesh in anyone’s guess). The series is one of Stephen Cannell’s finest creations, even though there was a planned “Greatest American Heroine” spinoff that thankfully never aired, but whose pilot can be seen on the first season of “GAH.”

The real beauty here, though, is checking out William Katt’s stunt double. And really, this could have only happened with the glorious DVD pause and frame advance buttons. Sure, you may have been able to pull it off on some VCRs, but for full-on clairty nothing’s gonna beat the DVD. Anyway, anytime Katt takes off into the air (sometimes even when he’s running to take off), the stunt double comes in. The people who made this show obviously never dreamed that such things as DVDs would come along years later to really zero in on these things, and therefore they didn’t really seem to care much if the double resembled Katt in any way. The dude is much bulkier for one thing. I mean, he really fills out that supersuit in ways Katt never could. Then there’s the killer Harpo Marx wig the guy is wearing. Totally out of whack, and wooly as hell, this thing hardly looks like even a wig, let alone real hair, it’s that bad. I tell you, I’ve had as much fun just frame advancing the stunt double’s moments on screen as I have watching the episodes themselves. Some good unintended hilarity if ever there was some.

Come back Connie, I forgive you.

TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV DVDs

So much for forgiveness

November 22, 2005 / John Paulsen

So Abruzzi finds God and dies because of it – are we supposed to read into that?

It looks like the group is down to seven, but Scofield has to solve two problems before the gang can break out: 1) arrange for an alternate getaway plan now that Abruzzi is not in the fold and 2) somehow get his brother out of the trouble he’ll no doubt be in after cold cocking a guard. What was that, anyway? Is punching a guy the only way to stall him? How about “How are your kids, Bob?” or “Who does your nails?” Hell, instead of hitting the guy he could have hit on the guy and it would have created fewer problems.

Prison Break, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Servilia pulls the strings

November 21, 2005 / John Paulsen

After last week’s blog entry, a reader wrote in wondering why I didn’t discuss the violent arena scene in more detail. My answer: I don’t know. The scene certainly deserves mention as it was one of the goriest scenes HBO has broadcast, and it almost makes up for the awful strobe-filled “battle scene” we saw in episode 7. But the best thing about the scene was the great display of the brotherly love that Lucius and Titus have for each other.

On to this week’s episode, which is also the season finale. Like another HBO franchise, “The Sopranos,” this series isn’t afraid to kill off a main character. Okay, everyone knew that Caesar was going to bite it soon, but who would have guessed that Niobe would take a header off a balcony? I’ll admit – that caught me by surprise. Servilia was the key that tied both storylines together. With the news of Niobe’s illegitimate son, she pulled Lucius away from Caesar’s side so that he wouldn’t be there to protect Caesar when the Senators made their move. It was actually quite brilliant.

Even more surprising than Niobe’s suicide was Titus’ former slavegirl pulling a 180 and grabbing the big man’s hand at the end of the episode. You would think that killing a girl’s boyfriend wouldn’t be the way to her heart, but apparently, you’d be wrong. The girl’s ex has to be rolling over in his grave at the thought of his murderer tapping his love, but there isn’t much he can do about it anymore. Darwinism, at its finest.

Looking forward to next season, it should be interesting to see how the new Republic moves forward and how Lucius deals with a boy that is not his own. Servilia’s threats towards Atia should provide material for another compelling storyline. Despite losing the considerable presence of Julius Caesar, the series is actually setting up pretty well for a second season.

Rome, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Why am I still watching this show?

November 18, 2005 / John Paulsen

I realize that pointing out the plot holes of an episode of “Alias” is much like pointing out the spines on a porcupine, but in last night’s episode there was one too egregious to ignore. Towards the end of the episode, Sloan enters the APO interrogation room and kills Gordon Dean by stuffing a cyanide tablet down his throat. Later, as a summary to the extensive investigation that was apparently conducted into Dean’s death, Jack tells Sydney that Dean must have had the tablet hidden under the skin in his mouth and that his death will go down as a suicide.

One problem – wasn’t the room being monitored by a camera? They had a bunch of equipment monitoring Dean and his vitals earlier in the episode. Did they purposefully turn them all off and leave the room completely unsecured? How about checking the timestamps on the security keypad outside the door to see if anyone entered the room around the time he died?

Oh that’s right, they were conveniently doing a system scan that shut down all the security systems right at that moment.

Let’s get home and build that crib.

TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

It’s OK to kill people that are trying to kill you

November 15, 2005 / John Paulsen

Just watched this week’s “Prison Break,” and I have to say, Veronica Donovan may go down as the most inconsistently dumb TV character of the year. Last week, after creatively evading the feds’ wire tap, she logs on to her IM, giving away her location to Scary Bald Guy. This week, after being tied up by SBG, she manages to heat up her plastic restraints on the furnace, freeing herself in the process. She hits SBG with a chair and instead of killing him, she runs off to free her nephew and friend. Of course, when SBG wakes up, the chase continues. Here’s a rule that should be followed by TV characters henceforth: It’s OK to kill people that are trying to kill you. Even if they are unconscious, and you think they might kill you when they wake up. Just go ahead and finish them!