Yup, winter’s comin’, and that’s the signal that Cowboy Pete is back with the TV roundup. This week’s launch is a good ‘un with two episodes of “Charmed,” the season launch of “Smallville,” and a brand new “I Like This Show, I Wonder When They’ll Cancel It” entry called “Veronica Mars.” Spoilers abound.
“Charmed”–Two episodes in, and it’s very clear that the driving force of this season is going to be Leo going slowly off his nut. The future of Wyatt going bad hangs heavily over the series, and it’s starting to shape up that Leo is going to be main reason this will happen (if it does happen.) He’s blown away a couple of Elders, and doesn’t exactly seem to be drowning in remorse. Meanwhile he’s being actively courted by an evil floating head which is, y’know, NEVER a good thing. Personally, I’m wondering whether Leo isn’t going to be tapped to be the new Source of Evil, who has–to my knowledge–been without a vessel ever since Cole was blown away.
Meanwhile the three sisters continue to handle each escalatingly bizarre story development with an attitude that radiates “seen it all,” but at the same time still has a freshness to it that most other shows which have been around this long can only envy. Plus special bonus points for catering to genre fans as this week featured John (“Q”) de Lancie and Elizabeth (New Frontier’s own “Shelby”) Dennehy as elders, with Charisma Carpenter showing up next week. And hey, Phoebe naked on a horse…really, what’s not to like?
“Smallville”–Okay, okay, I give. I finally believe a man can fly, okay? Not only does the show come out of the box firing on all cylinders, but they installed a few more cylinders for good measure so they could have those firing as well. Clark drops naked into a cornfield (to the delight of my wife and 13 year old daughter) only to be confronted by newly arrived Lois Lane, blowing a huge gaping hole in my Chloe-is-Lois theory (and drives the final nail into the coffin of the notion that some years down the road, reporter Lois Lane doesn’t recognize Superman for who he is, glasses or lack of glasses notwithstanding.) There are enough meta-gags and nudge-nudge, wink-wink moments to satisfy Eric Idle’s “Say no more” guy, ranging from the Superman movies’ Lana Lang having a scene with the Superman movies’ Lois Lane (who in turn makes reference to her and the Superman movies’ Superman being a couple in “another lifetime”), to Lois’ comment about liking nerds with glasses, to the priceless bit where some confused pilots pick up a speeding Kal-El on radar and wonder, “What is that? Is that a bird? A plane?”
And how about that flying Kal-El, huh? In a sequence that’s about as far from “three running steps and hit the springboard” as you can get, Kal-El apparently, through sheer will power, severs some gravimetric lines or builds up some kinda energy or something, and blows himself skyward like a cork out of a champagne bottle. For years the mantra’s been “no flights, no tights.” Yet here we get one hëll of a flight, although still no tights…or even underwear on Tom Welling for about half his screen time. And hey, Lana gets naked and glowy too, so that’s all good.
Still, we are confronted with yet another deus ex machina to solve nasty behavior on Clark’s part. Last time it was Jonathan getting powered up by Jor-El. This year’s “huh?” moment is Margot Kidder pulling “black kryptonite” out of her ášš (not, y’know, literally). Pulling in a new color of kryptonite to ignite a story, I’ve no problem with. Producing it in order to resolve a story, on the other hand…not exactly the best writing. So what does black kryptonite do? Well, to all intents and purposes, it restores Clark’s soul, so I guess it’s aptly named. Hey, how come Red Kryptonite doesn’t make him a communist? Or make him vote Republican?
I also liked that Lois is the only other person on the show to dress in blue and red.
I have to admit I did see the shock ending coming the moment Clark showed up at Chloe’s gravesite. But if you want to know where Chloe is, you need look no further than a flip of the channel dial to UPN, where you’ll find…
“Veronica Mars”–…Chloe, or maybe her twin sister, in a vaguely noirish tale of a teenage girl who assists her father in running a private detective agency. Basically it’s “My So Called Life” meets “Encyclopedia Brown,” and the show is SO much better than that somewhat crappy description of it, I can’t even begin to tell you. I tend to believe that first person narration should be limited to detective stories, and so it’s right at home here, as Veronica is pulled both into an adultery investigation that could be connected with a supposedly resolved murder case, and also aids a young guy named Wallace who’s run afoul of a motorcycle gang, led by the most intriguing good guy/bad guy cyclist since the Fonz. The only thing that concerns me is that her father says “Who’s your daddy?” so many times that it’s starting to make me wonder if he is, in fact, not her daddy.
Anyone, I don’t want to go into too much detail because it’s being repeated this Friday at 9 PM. At least, thank God, this Wednesday 9 PM launch is not its regular slot (that’s going to be Tuesday) so it won’t be going head-to-head with “West Wing.” Now if the UPN will just stick with it long enough for it build an audience.
Waaa hoo, pardners.
And yeah, I know it’s my birthday. Shaddup.
PAD
• 
Hey, happy birthday.
Despite all the cool stuff going on, the thought foremost in my mind was, “Haven’t we already had a season opener featuring Clark with a new personality?” They seriously need to find a new gimmick. (Yes, yes, I know. [scary wb guy]Clark’s only dangerous enemy… is himself.[/scary wb guy]
And thought number two was, “Boy, Lois sure looks like Mike Myers in drag…”
Black Kryptonite’s attribute is to tear off Tom Welling’s shirt and split him in two.
best…kryptonite…ever.
-Also, I’ve got to say, I really liked the actress playing Lois. She has a nice off-the-cuff style of speech.
Also liked the nudity from both Tom and Kristen. Although hers was more “suggested.” The guys on this show definitely show more skin than the girls. Kind of a nice switch from most shows, actually.
Yeah, well, Charmed has lost it’s charm for me, but I still watch it out of habit. Still, Charisma Carpenter is enough reason for me to tune in next week.
I’m not liking all the divergence from the traditional Superman story. Okay, I can see Luthor and Clark growing up in the same town. It’s been done before. But it’s REALLY becoming a stretch for me to believe someone like Lex could turn so utterly evil as we know he’s destined to become. The only way I can see this working out is that Lionel kills Lex and takes over his body. (Remember that prediction by the way)
I don’t think Lois and Clark should have gotten so chummy. I think it would have been better if Lois and Clark never got to know each other.
And how did I know that Clark would use his x-ray vision on Chloe’s grave?
Oh, and you would think that an airplane pilot would know that no bird can fly that fast or that high.
Like yourself, I enjoyed the season debut of Smallville. Of course, this episode only reinforces my belief that there’s gotta be some kind of massive mind-wipe occurring in the final episodes of the series. Otherwise, when the cape and tights show up, anybody who knows Clark is going to make the connection. (Not really connected to that, I was severely disappointed that, in the episode where Clark had to wear glasses… everybody knew it was Clark!)
Anyway, thanks for the tip about Veronica Mars. I’ll have to set the VCR for Friday.
Hey PAD. Don’t know if you have access to watching different stuff at the same time, but The Lost was a prett cool roller coaster ride over on ABC.
I still don’t understand why everbody needs Smallville to fit into established continuity. It’s been an “elseworlds” from the start. Why not just enjoy the new story?
Why can’t this Lex actually be a good person? It doesn’t mean he still wouldn’t have legitimate reason to oppose a Superman.
Gave up on Smallville a while back, but Veronica Mars was indeed a great first episode. Nice cast, very well-written… I only gave it a shot because Rob Thomas (of the late, lamented Cupid) was involved, and I’m glad I did.
Good news about Veronica Mars is that although it seems destined for low ratings, it’s already got buzz going, and really, UPN has low ratings on everything, don’t they? I think it’s got a better shot there than just about anywhere else.
Also found out that Trio is running Spaced, the British sitcom by the guys who made Shaun of the Dead. Watched two episodes tonight and it is absolutely hilarious, chockful of geek references and just plain fun anyway. If you happen to have the Trio cable network, it’s worth a look.
Oh, and I second the recommendation for Lost. I actually thought Veronica Mars was a better hour of TV, but there’s a lot of potential in that show.
“And yeah, I know it’s my birthday. Shaddup.”
Heh. Happy Birthday. 😛
“Also liked the nudity from both Tom and Kristen. Although hers was more “suggested.” The guys on this show definitely show more skin than the girls. Kind of a nice switch from most shows, actually.”
Speak for yourself. Naked Tom does nothing for me…
Happy Birthday, big guy. Remember, the only time we don’t get older is when we are dead.
Thanks for the Cowboy Pete. That’s one of the best things about a new Smallville season.
Happy Birthday, PAD!
The flight effects were movie worthy. Just awesome. Margot looked pretty good considering all she’s been through these last few years. The new Lois Lane is so much better than I expected–like Randall says, she’s got a certain quality. Pluck, sass, moxie, whatever.
Let me second the “you ought to tape Lost and watch it later” crowd. It’s from the Alias guy, so no surprise that it’s so good. And I’ll give Veronica Mars a try.
You know, I always wondered about the guy who walks around the city shouting “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird!” I mean, big flipping whoop dee doo. Get out much?
As for how Lois won’t recognize Clark as Superman without the glasses…hey, maybe she wasn’t looking at his FACE.
Happy birthday, hope the ladies in your life treated you to a very special and memorable day.
I chose Lost over Smallville and have no regrets. I was captivated from the moment it began. The characters are as convincing in their mannerisms as they are very nicely diversified. A solid cast with an intriguing and captivating premise that looks to be on the way to keeping my attention throughout this season.
Fred
How come no “LOST” review. I was really looking forward to your take on this show.
For anyone who missed it; think CASTAWAY with more people and some big critter running around looking to eat people.
I watched Smallville with my teenage daughter and we were both creeped out by the scene of the old lady in the hospital drooling over the naked teenage boy.
–your pal, Hoy
Enjoyed Smallville, specifically the flight scene… and a good “arc” beginning with the three devices.
And does John Glover not look cool with the shaved head and the glasses. Of course he’s evil. He was the Devil in Brimstone.
And for those who didn’t catch it, CSI:NY was actually pretty good. Each CSI, I guess, is shot in a different way. CSI is dark with Neon lights, CSI: Miami is extremely bright (and actually the worst of the lot. Caruso does nothing for me. Emily Proctor, though…) NY is shot through a blue lens. Adds a very gritty, urban drama. Worth your time.
Travis
We taped “Lost” and plan to watch it before the weekend is out. From what I heard I think it will be added to Cowboy Pete shortly.
Kath
Kathleen:
>We taped “Lost” and plan to watch it before the weekend is out. From what I heard I think it will be added to Cowboy Pete shortly.
Come on, give us that juicy gossip. Who’d you hear this from? Who is your source? 😉
As to how Clark will be able to disguise himself with a set of glasses, it’s obvious that the last thing he gets out of all the Kryptonian stuff is a superpowerful cloaking/mind control device in the form of…a set of glasses. It’s so obvious…
And happy birthday (I’ll shut up now).
RE: “Charmed”
Leo is _not_ going to be the cause of Wyatt turning evil: That’s a Red Herring!
He brought back the Wrong Wyatt from the Evilverse!
You read it here first.
Happy Birthday…
Your present is umm… I well, it happened on Sunday, but I made my comic store sell out of three issues of Fallen Angel, propting a reorder that they couldn’t get. He asked when the next trade was coming out… and then said something about: “Call DC if you have to… just make it happen.” Hope that helps.
Oh, and I bought Madrox too.
I flipped back and forth between
The good – he flew.
The bad – everything else.
The ugly – Petes gone and another whitebread joins the show.
– Black Kryptonite has the power to erase brainwashing and wake up people in a coma.
– All the ads for the Mountain, a new soap on after Smallville
happy birthday peter
Wait? You mean “Veronica Mars” is on twice this week and neither time will be the regular timeslot? Yeah, that’ll help draw viewers.
– Chris
SMALLVILLE: Has anyone noticed that all the rich/powerful masterminds on the show now have serious, probably fatal, health problems. Lionel’s got that liver problem that’s killing him. Lex need dialysis every 72 hours or he’ll die. Swann is a quadraplegic and must have something fatal going on just so he can fit in. Finally there’s Jor-el who has the minor health problem of being…uhm, dead.
Dang! – I didn’t even notice Pete was missing! Where’s my head at?
Happy Birthday Peter! I hope it’s a great one!
Fred quoted Kathleen:
>We taped “Lost” and plan to watch it before the weekend is out. From what I heard I think it will be added to Cowboy Pete shortly.
Come on, give us that juicy gossip. Who’d you hear this from? Who is your source? 😉
I think it was a faxed document.
Wait, today is also Jason Alexander’s birthday. (he’s 45. Festiv birthday, George)
And, come to think of it, when have we ever seen PAD and George Costanza together in the same place…?
you know what this means, don’t you…
(I posted lengthy reviews of both CSI:NY and LOST over at the Jump The Shark Yahoo Group, but long story short, I liked ’em.)
[Kurt, it’s me, Randall.]
Is it really Peter David’s bday today/?? If so happy birthday! Ðámņ its a lot of people’s bdays today (Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen and my friend Mike). Anyways my thoughts on Smallville (copied from my LJ)
-Clark uhh I mean Kal-El flying was a highlight..on another message board I’m on (Mark Millar’s) someone commented how Kal-El looks like Neo but then again didn’t someone comment on Neo doing his Superman thang in Matrix Reloaded?
-I loved tonight’s episode, and Lois Lane coming into the picture just made it fresher and a bit more humorous than say well no one on the show has been funny..
-I miss Pete 🙁
-That Lana subplot or whatever you wanna call it was confusing…must watch episode again
-Best scenes I think was the beginning where Lois finds Clark butt nekkid in the cornfield..and she’s like “just look at his eyes” when he turns around and she sees his “thing” and then she talks fast and very charming and witty and then she confronts Lionel and BAM… 180 degree turn on how she acts…quite impressive.
-Odd seeing two Clarks fighting…well regular Clark and Kal-El.
-Confused as to where Brigitte got the black kryptonite???
Man I KNEW I should’ve taped Lost on the other VCR…well if someone missed it (like me) saw its airing (both parts) Oct. 2 8pm I think..
Napoleon:
>Wait, today is also Jason Alexander’s birthday. (he’s 45. Festiv birthday, George)
And, come to think of it, when have we ever seen PAD and George Costanza together in the same place…?
you know what this means, don’t you…
Sure I do. It means that whenever young Peter David finds himself in times of trouble, he speaks the name of the ancient wizard who gave him his powers, and is magically transformed….
-Confused as to where Brigitte got the black kryptonite???
She used a weather satellite to analyze some kryptonite in space, then replaced the unknown elements with nicotine… or was that another movie?
So much for Smallville’s “no flying” rule, huh?
I liked this episode. Lois absolutely stole the show. That was pretty much how I expect her to be (hear that comic writers? That’s what she should be like!). It’s just nice to have her there, too. It’s also nice to have Lana away for a while. I greatly dislike Lana. She is quite the drip. Plus, her relationship with Clark is so overworked and strained that it’s pretty much dead by now. The Black Kryptonite was okay, but I am a little put off that they went and invented a new color of Kryptonite (though, someone on another board suggested it was a nod to Superman III, which utilized kryptonite with tobacco tar in it). As for why Lois won’t connect Clark to Superman after this; if we accept the glasses as a disguise in the first place, then almost anything goes. Besides, the only other way to do it is to keep out characters that are part of the Metropolis cast. I don’t think I’d want to see this show if folks like Perry, Lois and Lex didn’t show up sometime. Heck, I still want them to do an episode with Bizarro, Metallo, Prankster or Toyman.
Oh, I think they’ve made it clear that Lex will turn evil. But not cliche, “Boy, aren’t I evil” evil. No, he is going to mosey down the Road to Hëll with the best of intentions. He made his big speech last season about the prophecy being misunderstood, about the person who would stand up to a super powered savior as being noble and brave. Much like B5’s Londo, Lex will proudly and confidently walk down the path of darkness, sure of his intentions.
Hey… Happy Birthday!
Btw, can anyone tell me how to format urls into words? And what about underline? Does the site still have underline formatting? Thanks.
One more thing:
Lois and Chloe look nothing alike, wig or not.
One more thing:
Martha was extremely nice to Lois who comes barging into her house and wants to go upstairs to her son’s room without being invited. My mom would have put her fist through the face of any woman trying to do something like that.
One more thing:
How many people here could invite someone to come and live with their family without consulting your parents first? Clark never invited Lana to come live with him.
Smallville: My theory on Chloe’s “death” is that Lex set up the explosion to fake Chloe’s death in order to protect Chloe from Lionel and ensure her testimony. He, more than anyone else, wants Lionel behind bars, and knows that even a safe house can’t protect Chloe from Lionel. Also, Chloe asked Lex to protect her.
Lois blew it, though, by suggesting to Lionel that Chloe’s death might have been a set up. She was saying it just to bug him, but it’s started him thinking.
Here’s another Kryptonite type list — black’s never been mentioned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryptonite
Luigi:
Assuming the HTML tag isn’t deactivated, you’d make words into a URL by typing:
Whatever you want the text to be without the spaces between the > and what’s inside ’em.
This would result in Whatever you want the text to be.
However, for some reason the site isn’t letting me use the “preview” button, so I can’t tell if underlining is still there or whatever. If you want it, and it’s not there, I’m sure a pair of tags will do the trick.
Or, if I was thinking, I would have done this so that the page didn’t read that as code. *slaps head*
OK, to make the link, type ‹a href=”http://www.yourlinkhere.com”>Your text here‹/a>
(If this one doesn’t work, ‹ is a less than sign.)
Underline is ‹u>‹/u>
Maybe this time this will work…
eclark1849 said:
“One more thing:
Lois and Chloe look nothing alike, wig or not.”
The wig comment is what’s known as a joke. Just as it’s ludicrous to really expect a pair of glasses to work as a disguise (especially with people you know), a wig isn’t much of a disguise either. That the actresses don’t resemble each other is immaterial. The point of the joke is the humor behind the _idea_ that a wig as a disguise would work.
Rick
Given that Doc Swann was the one possessing the Black K, it’s reasonably safe to make a postulation… He made it SPECIFICALLY to counter Jor-El’s plans for Clark. There’s none of it in Smallville that we’ve seen. It doesn’t exist in the comics. Swann’s known a lot more about Jor-El/Eradicator/Whomever that is from the start, so why WOULDN’T he create a defense against Clark being brainwashed? He’s got the resources, the intelligence, and the empathy to pull something like this off. And if so, the Kents FINALLY have a defense against “Jor-El”/Eradicator. Nothing wrong with that.
Since the opening credits said “Special guest star Margot Kidder”, I think the commercial for it doesn’t release anything out of the bag.
As for the Lionel stealing Lex’s body…perhaps you should look ahead a few episodes…and coming soon….IMPULSE!
Veronica Mars–yeah, it’s hard to describe it in a way that doesn’t make it sound dorky..I tried that on my blog, and didn’t really pull it off.
Happy birthday Peter,
I would have to agree that Veronica Mars is a special treat this season, the only new show coming on this year that I had any vested interest in was Lost. On a whim, I decided to see Veronica Mars and was extremly pleased. It is a very difficult show to describe without giving anything away, and I hope that people see that there is so much more to the show then what the commercials show. The good thing is that the show is not on FOX and actually has a chance of having all of this seasons episodes aired.
Happy Birthday PAD.
I LOVED Veronica Mars. I admit I tuned in simply because I like Kristen Bell after seeing a few performances of hers (Gracie’s Choice, Deadwood, and Spartan).
I’m definitely going to be back for more.
There is plot points galore to obsess over.
Where’s her mom for real, is she involved with the guy her dad thinks killed his daughter?
Who raped Veronica? (Date rape is a misnomer, rape is rape, no qualifier is valid)
And oh so much more.
My favorite part is where she organized a sting on the evidence room so she could screw with the sheriff who shined her on when she tried to report the rape. That was pure artistry.
Can’t wait for more!
Howdy, Cowboy Pete!
And Happy Birthday to you! Your present? I went ahead and have already tried FALLEN ANGEL and I am going to get the entire MADROX mini-series. So don’t worry! The royalty cheques are a-comin’!! 🙂
Hey Peter.
We totally agree on both [I]Smallville[/I] and [I]Veronica Mars.[/I] Big surprise there, huh?
My own take on them and the season premiere of [I]Law and Order[/I] is posted at http://www.thealternative.tk
I will not be able to do it weekly like you though, so this is the only time I can give you any “competition”. Hmmm… not bad for an otherwise unpublished author working as an e-journalist, a.k.a. unpaid content provider.
Anyway, take care and
[B]HAPPY BIRTHDAY![/B]
Sorry about the []s.
If the preview feature had worked, I would have known that the []s did not.