Monday, February 13, 2012

Alcatraz: Season 1 Episode 6 - Paxton Petty


Welcome back to the Rock everyone!  We had another thriller of a manhunt complete with twists and advancements on the giant mystery.  You can tell they're looking to find a good balance of "prisoner of the week" stories vs. overall story.  And it seems like they're finally finding some good uses for Jorge Garcia's comic relief.  I'm enjoying the ride every Monday night and hope to continue doing so!  Let's get into breaking down some of the stuff in this episode.  

Note: Still having issues with my screenshot software so I apologize once again! 
Paxton Petty
Paxton Petty was an explosives expert who served his country in the Korean War.   He was court marshaled at some point and I may have missed what the crime was but I think he was charged with blowing up children (i.e. little soldiers as he called them).  Yikes, these people are bad guys!  Eventually, he planted mines in 4 locations around San Francisco but only 3 were ever found.  He went through various interrogation treatments from Beauregard and Lucy.  Under Lucy's treatments he revealed a song that eventually revealed the location of 3.  The 4th one was a catalyst for Lucy and young Emerson forming a kinship.  And it haunted Emerson for years until the present day.  

Emerson was actively involved in trying to find Paxton's NEW bomb locations.  (Can't believe they showed that dude blowing his leg off early in the episode!  Crazy!)  Madsen and Soto were actively trying to hunt down Paxton himself.  With the help of a few new friends "Psycho" and "Comic-Book Fan Autopsy Lady' they set out on this daring quest.  Fragments of Silver Stars were found in the mines which led them to a graveyard that had his bombs stashed away in a mausoleum.  

Emerson combined song lyrics with paint colors to figure out bomb locations and tracked down Petty before the rest of his team.  But he sent them to the next location.  Emerson got caught in a Petty trap and landed his foot on a mine.  But no fear, Hurley (still can't help it) and Madsen caught him at the next location. 

Psycho, the super bomb squad dude with some kind of history with Madsen, was able to save Emerson from the mine but at the cost of his own life.  This gave Petty some satisfaction as he designed the bomb to be unbeatable even by "superstar" bomb diffusers.  This led to Emerson yet again shooting an inmate out of anger and retaliation.  And he also tricked Paxton over revealing that 4th bomb location allowing him to finally get closure on his elusive case. 

Mythology Talk
  • It would appear that Emerson and Lucy did have a bit of a relationship back in 1960.  It started with the Petty case and who knows how long it continued?  But we did see Emerson going through an old trunk with pictures of the two of them at some dinner/event. 
  • We got another speech from Tommy Madsen complaining about them taking all of his blood.  He said that he's not sick and doesn't understand what's going on.  He reeled Lucy into the situation who in turn asked Dr. Milton Beauregard about it.  While Milton finally was able to give Lucy credit on some of her talents (in extracting information out of Petty), he was not ready to get into the whole blood taking thing!  But this clearly is important! 
  • It looks like Soto might eventually get a girlfriend on this show!  The autopsy girl, Nikki, was sporting some comic book character on her t-shirt.  Hurley started joking about his day job and how he has a super secret identity.   And even invited her over to see his comic book collection.  
  • Soto was also given free reign this episode to spout off some of his theories on the 63s disappearance.  With Petty's frozen bombs in the Korean War coming into the equation, he brought up Captain America and how he was frozen for 60 years to be thawed in the present day all in time for The Avengers movie this summer.  (spoiler alert, I guess?)   He also spouted off a Quantum theory about a water bug on a pond where the water is rising.  The bug perceives change, blah blah blah.  Having a hard time remembering what he said, but I can't imagine it's the actual answer anyway!   
  • Did anyone else find it interesting how up with the times Petty was?  I mean, he even thought to grab Emerson's cell phone.  Did he even know what cell phones were when he appeared in 2012?  
  • And speaking of his appearance, this might help address some of our issues of where these people are showing up.  They're not ALL on Alcatraz.  Paxton showed up in that graveyard.  He woke up in the mausoleum.   And he was VERY confused about why he was there.  He even asked Madsen and Soto about it.  And he was frustrated when they couldn't answer his questions.  Crazy stuff!   As Soto asked, were they sleeping for 50 years?  Doesn't seem likely.  But it does seem like it is some kind of TIMED release into the world as we speculated earlier.  Or, they're all here in the present day but just stowed away somewhere and frozen or unconscious.  And then someone is planting them where they need to be and then having them wake up.  
  • And that brings us to Lucy.  Emerson was asked about a DNR when he went to visit her in the present day.  Once he diffused bomb # 4 he brought it to Lucy and said they finally were done with it.  He pulled the plug on her and took her to the secret Alcatraz prison and right to Dr. Beauregard saying the following.  "You know her methods.  Fix her!"  
  • HUH!?!?  Okay, so I'm back to the cloning thing tied with the memory extraction, insertion whatever.  Lucy's methods are all about the mind.  Tommy Madsen was giving up all of that blood.  Was he the only one giving up blood?  Or will we find out it was all of the 63s?  What is so special about Tommy's blood?  Dr. Beauregard and Lucy seem highly involved in what will be this conspiracy back in 1960.   So, are they involved in 2012?  Is there going to be some grand twist where we find out that Emerson is behind the whole thing?  And there is some motivation to releasing these prisoners out into the world and then capturing them again?  Like this is some test for something bigger to come?  Eh who knows.  But definitely some interesting things going on.  And if they do indeed "FIX" Lucy, we have to speculate their involvement with the 63s and the original disappearance even further! 
I'm sure there's more to talk about but I've said a lot and have to go back to watch more TV with the family! (Monday nights are crazy now folks!)   Anyway, I look forward to discussing this further with everyone and whatever other shows we want to discuss.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings as always and I'll see you next week! 

End Credits
  • This season I will be recapping FringeTerra NovaThe Walking Dead and Alcatraz
  • Other shows that are being discussed in comments recently:  Sons of Anarchy, How I Met Your Mother, Once Upon a Time, American Horror Story, Dexter, Chuck, Shameless, Mad Men (March!!), Game of Thrones (April 1st!), among others.  Feel free to join in!
  • See trailers for the Mid-Season shows I'm looking forward to: Awake and Touch.  
  • As always, there are other shows that I watch as well and would be happy to discuss with all of you. For a complete list by day, you can check out my "FALL TV" post.

75 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good episode last night. As soon as I saw the bomb diffuser guy (Psycho?) at the beginning of the episode I immediately identified him as a "red shirt" (see Star Trek). I knew he was going to die diffusing that bomb.

Finally a good episode that started to answer some questions while, as is always the case, creating new ones.

So why have they let Lucy remain comatose in the hospital since week 1 if they could just take her back to Alcatraz and "fix her"? What were they waiting for?

Yes, now we know that these guys "reappear" in places other than Alcatraz (which was a nice reveal). However, I still have a problem with the premise that they are housing dangerous criminals there (who disappeared in the 60's no less), trying to keep a cover on whatever is going on, and yet Alcatraz is still open to tourists. Duh. In reality they would shut that down to tourists. It's just one thing I can't get past. Maybe someone will explain in a future episode why Alcatraz must remain open to tourists. And I won't accept "because they don't want anyone to suspect anything weird is going on" as a good reason. Can you imagine the lawsuit if one of these criminals got loose and killed a tourist. If this was really happening the first thing they'd do is close the island to tourists.

Bill B

AUStarwars said...

"sporting some comic book character"...man you are losing Dork Cred..

it was golden age Sandman..before he was all "king of dreams" and gothy..not that you know who either Sandman is ;-)

Anonymous said...

I was glad to hear Petty's story that he just woke up in the mauseleum. It confirmed to me that some higher power may (but may NOT) be giving them directions on what the higher power wants done. This guy was strictly acting on his own. While the tools he needed may have been provided to him for his use, no one told him to go blow up this place or that, he just assumed his previous identity, personality, and instincts and went around planting bombs. You would think if there was something specific that was to be blown up, that he was "resurrected" for a specific purpose or mission, there would have been some evidence of that. Unless the higher power planted the idea in his brain somehow. I think if that were the case, he would have hit a significant target instead of bothering with a few small incidents.

I am very intreagued by the characters that are in both timelines (the doctors who have not aged, but Hauser, who has!) I am wondering if the blook they keep taking from the prisoner has something to do with that.

It's all still good for me! Cajun

Anonymous said...

Correction -- BLOOD they keep taking from the prisoner....

Mike V. said...

@Bill - No need to let most of us know what Red Shirt is...even if I didn't know it from the original Star Trek, it was referenced to quite often in LOST and on my blog! lol But good job identifying him as a red shirt. I figured they were going to introduce some romantic tension for our lead character, but I guess not!

As for Lucy remaining in the hospital, I think that Emerson remained hopeful that she was going to recover. Once he received the "death sentence" (aka, they asked him about DNR)...I think that's when he resorted to bringing her to the "miracle lab" of Dr. Beauregard. lol So we've seen 2 people from the 60s die and be brought into this lab. can't be a coincidence, right?

I had a feeling people would start to get confused by this and maybe I'm the one that's confused. But as far as I know...there are 2 prisons. There is the one on alcatraz where the team's HQ is (the one that Soto and Madsen are aware of too). Then there's the replica alcatraz prison in the woods or jungle somewhere in the San Francisco area. This, only Emerson, Lucy, Beauregard and the captured prisoners are aware of so far. So, they're not housing the prisoners on Alcatraz where the tourists go. That's at least the impression I was under.

@AUSW - Outside of my knowledge of Red Shirts, I never claimed to have Dork Cred! But I'm flattered you think I did. lol (I do think telling someone they don't have dork cred can be considered a compliment in some circles too! lol) Anyway, I did hear Hurley say the golden age of Sandman, and I think I even jotted down the note. But, I was really trying to type that recap up quickly and focus on the things I found important. The golden age Sandman, while a funny little insert, was not one of them for me! The fact that Hurley may get a hot girlfriend due to HIS dork cred, that WAS funny. lol The old me may have looked up some details on sandman and made a quick reference to it, but the new me is just trying to get through the recap so we can get the discussion started. I know it's cliche' to say, but when you have kids you'll understand! :-)

@Cajun - Good point that this guy didn't seem to have instructions on what to do. Then again, he was "brought back" to a place where there was a stockpile of land mines and this guy loved blowing things up. So, maybe they didn't really need to give him instructions. They just wanted him to be tempted by his hobby or something!?!? It didn't seem like the sniper had an objective to accomplish either. He was just released out into the world to create pandemonium. It is a good point though that they don't all have "assignments"....wonder what that's all about.

I think we're all wondering about that blood! And what I keep coming back to is cloning or something. But I don't know how Tommy's blood would be able to clone ALL of them. Unless there is something special in HIS blood that is allowing them to either suspend aging, replicate any person and then use Lucy's skills to replicate memories, or I dunno...keep them alive while they are all cryogenically frozen until 2012. lol

Definitely interested to see where they plan to go with it all! But I still don't know if they can keep the "why did they disappear and how are they back" mystery sustained over a whole series. I would hope that this would be resolved but open the door to a larger mystery/conspiracy....aka something like Emerson is behind it all but his intentions are good and for a higher purpose.

Great comments everyone! Keep em coming!

MJ said...

Hauser was a cop ? Guess I forgot that - thought he worked at Alcatraz.

I'm sad that they killed Psycho - liked him, but also it was all so cliche to kill him. I like it when shows do NOT do the cliche. Also - it was dumb since most cities have devices to take the perussion of blasts and robots. Once he got Hauser off and cut that one wire there were devices he would have used - so not very realistic.

While it's great to get Hurley-like lines from Soto I was not thrilled with the hot chick who digs dork stuff ! Again - predictable, and unrealistic. And I had hoped for garcia that he could stretch his acting skills and play a non-Hurley character. Whatever though.

And I know what you'll say - it's TV so not supposed to be realistic, but the better shows try not to be unrealistic too often.

They def went out of their way to show that the 63ers themselves are looking for answers as to why and how this time has elapsed.

Another good ep - especially the Hauser Lucy stuff.

Kelly said...

I'm just stopping by to drop off a link... watch the first 7 minutes of Awake! I'll be back in a bit for more comments :)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/13/awake-first-7-minutes_n_1274043.html?1329173922

Leslie said...

Another good episode! I thought the moments, then and now, between Hauser and Lucy were interesting. I don’t know why, but I got the feeling that Lucy saw how Hauser was looking at her when they met and maybe used that at first. The first time they met when he was with SFPD and bringing Petty to Alcatraz, she offered him a mint, but then later she used mints to drug Petty’s tea when she was questioning him. When Soto was talking to Petty about his theories, did you catch that Petty told Soto he was important because the warden and the “lady headshrinker” gave him the royal treatment? Soto said there were no female doctors on Alcatraz, but then they got interrupted by Rebecca. I guess this might lead Soto and Rebecca figuring out that Lucy was there in the 60’s. Not to mention how Hauser will explain about Lucy’s sudden recovery to Rebecca and Soto after Dr. B “fixes” her.

We again saw the contempt that Dr. Beauregard had for Lucy, but maybe part of that was because the warden brought her there to “bring them into the 20th century” as Lucy said, so Dr. B looked at her as a threat, not to mention a threat that was also a woman.

As for Hauser, I assumed he was pretty new to Alcatraz when they first showed him in 1963, and he maybe transferred there from SFPD possibly as a result of this case and his need to find that 4th mine.

Mike, you’re right about the 2 prisons, although Rebecca and Soto did bring Petty back to the original prison while they were still figuring things out. But, while it seems Rebecca and Soto don’t know about the replica prison in the woods, have they questioned where the captured prisoners are being taken?

Kevin said...

Does anyone have any theories on how old Hauser is? If he was 19 in 1963 that would make him 68 and he's a young looking 68. Granted Sam Neill is only 4 years younger, so I guess it's not a stretch. But 19 seems rather young for a guard at Alcatraz and any older and Hauser would be in his 70's.

Which leads me to wonder if he was "partially" affected by whatever is going on and maybe came back ten years later or something along those lines. Just a thought, but I love how the show makes you think.

Like this website BTW!

Kelly said...

I think Hauser's age is one of those things you have to just accept. Was he DEFINITELY a guard in 1963? Or was he just with the guard the night everyone disappeared? Maybe he was just there to see Lucy. If he was a guard, he JUST started, because the other guy basically had to tell him what's up.
And yes, there are two Alcatraz's.. Rebecca and Soto don't know about the bright white one in the woods.. yet, at least.
Still unsure as to what is going on, mythology-wise. I think I'm going to hold off on theories for now. So wait, I didn't catch soto saying anything about Captain America being frozen.. think it's possibly a hint as to what's going on? Probably just a red herring, ugh. I did like how "Hurto" was theorizing to Petty.. reminded me of the episode of Lost where Hurley and Miles were talking about time-traveling (when they were living in Dharma times). Fun times :)
I liked the episode, it definitely keeps me coming back. Every week I am somehow surprised at how they keep making these criminals out to be the dangerous people they're SUPPOSED to be. Love it!
As for other TV talk, has anyone been talking about Sunday's ep of Once? I have a theory about that.. in case you didn't see it, DON'T READ THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH! I think Belle figured out that Storybrooke is cursed, I think she knows who she really is. That's why Regina has her locked up. Either Belle totally knows everything (period, end of sentence), or she knows everything and thinks she's crazy. But that's just my two cents :)
Oh shoot, I know there was something else I was going to comment on- I think it had something to do with Alcatraz... but of course, my puny brain cannot process it! lol!
Can't wait for Revenge tomorrow! Happy V-Day, everyone!

Kevin said...

Actually you may be on to something there about Hauser. Last night if I'm not mistaken, they showed that he was seasick when they brought Petty to the island and made out like it was his first time. But at the beginning of the series when the prison is found empty, the senior guard is explaining that there are always two guards to make the transfer.

So was Hauser transferring from being a SF cop (as could be assumed by him investigating the bomb locations of 1960's Petty) to an Alcatraz guard the night of the disappearance, or did his responsibilities typically "end" at the dock and he was simply unfamiliar with the procedures on the island?

His relationship with Lucy occurred sometime between 1960 (she talked to Sylvain) and 1963. Is there more to why Hauser was the one there on the night of the disappearance and did his relationship with Lucy have something to do with it?

MJ said...

Leslie - def caught that tidbit as well when Petty and Soto were talking about the female doc, and agree with you totally. And no - no one seems to be asking Hauser where he is taking these prisoners yet. Guess that will a set-up in future for more info for us.

Well - at least I'm not crazy then. Cause I ws taken by surprise that hauser was suddenly SFPD when I'd thought he was a guard all this time.

Kelly - Leslie and I talked a little Once on the other blog - not much since Mike had not watched it yet.

Love that Belle will obviously be back. Agree that she knows something, probably way more than the mayor wants her too. I had forgotten who Cinderella was - Leslie had to help me out on that.

I keep saying I am going to find the story of Rumplestilskin - my husband thinks there is more than just spinning gold. The sneeze in this ep could be something with his fable.

Def psyched for both Ringer and Revenge this week.

Mike V. said...

@MJ -

I really didn't realize Hauser was a cop either. It might make sense though since a lot of guards disappeared. He's a cop and we see why he has a connection to Lucy now too. I other comments suggest he might eventually BECOME a guard...but I'm not sure so I'll wait until I read the rest of them. (I do like to respond to comments line by line afterall. lol)


I really didn't realize Psycho was destined to die until he was getting all excited about defusing the bomb. Before that I thought they were introducing a recurring character. So, I guess it was cliche' but I dunno. lol As for bomb diffusing protocol...I can't speak to that. :)

I hear you on Hurley. I guess I just miss Hurley so much that sometimes I don't care that he's the same character. lol Plus, as much as I enjoy Jorge Garcia, I really don't know how much his acting skills can be stretched. I mean...anytime he had to cry on LOST, I was usually laughing. especially with all the Libby stuff. And apparently, when he had to cry about Jin and Sun in season 6...the wide shot of that was really Jorge Garcia laughing instead of crying. Kind of kills the mood when you know that! lol But yeah...I hear ya on the unrealistic'ness of it.

Agreed that we are definitely seeing the 63ers are as confused as anyone. Very interesting.

@Kelly - NIIIICE! I'll have to check that link out later...unless I want to go into the premiere without seeing anything! lol

@Leslie - Wait...did she use the mints to drug the tea or did she just drug the tea? I thought Petty thought the mints were drugs...and she said "no, they're just mints, I put a sedative in your tea" or something like that. lol Yeah, I didn't get any of that vibe that she was using him, but she's definitely a shady character so we'll see!

YES! I totally forgot to mention that Petty mentioned the lady headshrinker. I think that was a clue that Madsen and Soto will soon know that Lucy was one of the 63s (or similar to a 63 lol) (ahh you just said the same thing).... Thanks for mentioning!

Good points on the Lucy/Beauregard stuff...it was the 60s...so yeah a woman coming in might have not been accepted.

Yes, Rebecca and Soto DID go to the original prison...agreed. And no...at least not on camera...Rebecca and Soto have not questioned where the prisoners are being taken. Surely, that has to come up eventually.

@Kevin - I had questioned Hauser's age a few episodes ago and everyone basically told me I was looking too much into it. lol I'm sure they're right! But I agree with you...the numbers don't really add up. And thanks for the props on the blog!

Mike V. said...

@Kelly - I don't know if the Captain America line was a hint as much as just showing how Soto/Hurley is obsessed with theorizing about the prisoners and what happened to them. Madsen even mentioned that he had like 50 theories now. lol So I figured the Captain America was a fun pop culture joking reference that the JJ Abrams crew love to throw into their shows so much. (most specifically, LOST) And you see right there, you brought up LOST too! lol I loved that Hurley/Miles scene that was put in there to tip a hat to viewer frustration. It was perfect. lol

I've seen ONCE. Interesting theory and it could be right! My assumption was just that since Gold/Rumple is "in the know" about the Fairy Tale land....the Queen had to keep Belle hidden so he still thinks she's dead. If you recall, in fairy tale land she told him that she killed herself which it turns out was a lie. So, since Storybrooke is present day...gold has to still think she is dead. But I like your theory too!

@Kevin (again lol)

I guess this is what I read when I was commenting to MJ above. You guys could be onto something. Maybe he does become a guard. But, for now I think Emerson was on the outside looking in to all of this Alcatraz drama.

Interesting question to if he was a cop, why was Hauser on the Island. I'm sure they were routinely bringing prisoners to the island. maybe they got there one day and there was no one to greet them...so they went exploring!? I dunno...I'm sure there may be more info on that coming.

Great discussion everyone! And I guess Happy V-day too! lol

Mike V. said...

Hmm...I thought Alcatraz was holding on to an audience. Doesn't look to be the case anymore. Ratings are dropping. Same with SMASH in week 2 ( I know I didn't have time to watch. Too much stuff on!)

http://www.tvline.com/2012/02/ratings-smash-voice-house-alcatraz/

Mike V. said...

@ MJ - You snuck a comment in there when I was writing my responses! lol

I made other comments about Belle and Storybrooke in my recent responses. And I'll have to go back and read your comments in the TWD blog.

I did look at the Wiki of Rumple a few weeks ago but I forget what it was all about. They definitely have beefed up his purpose in "this universe" I think. But you could be onto something with the sneeze. that certainly was random.

Obviously, I'm way behind on Ringer and haven't even started Revenge yet so I'm not psyched for either of those! I AM however excited for the return of Cougar Town tonight. And I love their tagline for this season. "Awful Name, Great Comedy"...or something like that. So true. lol

Leslie said...

Mike, I might have heard that wrong about the mints. I thought she was tricking Petty with the mints.

I guess I'm more forgiving about the unrealistic stuff than some are. I don't expect everything I watch on TV to be realistic. TV is, after all, an entertaining escape for me. Where it can get frustrating sometimes is figuring out if something is just unrealistic or if it's important to the story somehow...like Hauser's age. As long as I stay interested and entertained, I'm good!
I don't watch Ringer, but I am looking forward to Cougar Town and The River tonight and Revenge tomorrow

Mike V. said...

@Leslie - If I remember to do so, I'll double check that scene with the drugs/mints!

Agreed on realism. Back when LOST started, I went in with the expectation that everything that came up on the show would be able to be explained scientifically. And I thought the producers had made that promise to us. (maybe they did...but who cares? lol) After awhile, I found that the fun I had going on that ride they took us on far outweighted the "realism" of the show. What was cool ist that the PEOPLE put in that situation felt like they could be real people. So, Realistic Characters in Unrealistic Settings i'm perfectly cool with. But yeah, it's good point on where do you draw the line? It's tougher with mystery shows because you feel the need to question everything...so something like Hauser's age just begs to be questioned when in reality, it probably was never intended to be a mystery.

Definitely excited for CT tonight and New Girl! 2 great comedies on one night!

Kelly said...

The sneeze? Wait, are you talking about the guy in the drug store sneezing after Rumple left? I thought he sneezed ebcause that guy is Sneezy in Fairytaleland...
And good point about Regina just keeping Belle away from Rumple because he's aware of what's going on. I hadn't thought of that.
Leslie, I agree about TV being an escape.. that's generally why I watch shows that are more fantasized- Grimm, Once, Alcatraz, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy, etc.. and oh yeah, The River (and RINGER!) tonight! Think my boyfriend would be mad at me if I decided to stay home and watch it instead of spending V-day with him? LOL!!

Kelly said...

oh, and RE: Alcatraz's ratings- I think The Voice has taken the wind out of Alcatraz's sails, unforutunately. I hope this just means that people are at least DVRing it

Mike V. said...

Kelly - DUUUUH....you're probably right that that's Sneezy! lol Didn't even think about that. So we're even now! :-)

Can't disagree on being all about the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre shows as well. And I can't believe you watch/watched that awesome list of shows and don't have FRINGE on your resume'. FOR SHAME! lol

Good luck with the V-day drama. I wish I could say I feel your pain this year but I don't! lol My wife and I were going through our list of TV shows that we had to watch between Sunday and Tuesday and I listed a few shows that we could push to Tuesday and said "unless you wanted to go out or something for V-Day"...she just made a "are you kidding?" face and we both had a good laugh about it. Then again, we do have a 1.5 month old in our house and I don't think all the couples in town would appreciate us bringing him to a restaurant tonight!! LOL

Mike V. said...

Ugh...THE VOICE. I can't complain because I do enjoy the show and it is one of my "too many shows on monday" shows! But I would have rather watched SMASH instead of it. Just when it's 2 hours...you feel like you need to watch some of it on the night it airs or you'll never get to it. I don't know why I subject myself to these talent shows but when they involve music somehow I can't resist. I'd have so much time left in my TV watching schedule if I'd just give up on Idol, X-Factor and The Voice! lol

But yeah...I didn't think about it affecting Alcatraz..between that and 2.5 Men (barf)...Alcatraz is probably getting hurt. I didn't watch the voice until after I wrote my Alcatraz blog!! :-)

Kevin said...

That's a bummer about the ratings. I watch very little network TV and I find something I really like and its already in question. I hope things stabilize or Fox doesn't over react.

Imagine if NBC would have canned Seinfeld after the first season. If I recall, it didn't set the world on fire at first either.

Mike V. said...

You're absolutely right Kevin. Networks react way too quickly these days. Seinfeld definitely had time to grow. The first season was only a 6 episode (Spring launch) season but they brought it back and it flourished. They did a similar thing with THE OFFICE, which eventually went on to become a decent hit. Did not start off that way and now it's been on the air too long. lol

The problem with these High Concept shows is that, if an audience doesn't latch onto them early on, chances are the ratings are just going to get worse. With the procedural aspect to Alcatraz, there is the hope that people could hop in and out, miss and episode here and there. But realistically, there's enough of a serialized aspect to the show that people would definitely miss out on stuff. It's the same with Fringe's format. Sure, there is a beginning and end to each episode and a case resolved...but there's so much going on with the overall plot, that people certainly would be lost at this point.

The masses just do not do well with serialized stories. They want to put on their TV and be entertained for an hour here and there and not have to be committed to a show. I never understood this line of thinking, but that's because I'm obsessed with television. We all have our things! :-)

But I agree, I hope FOX doesn't cut the cord on Alcatraz too quickly. Then again, chances are it's probably going to be a case of renewing some kind of combination of Terra Nova, Alcatraz, Touch and/or Fringe. I don't know if they'll keep all 4 of them. Obviously, I'd probably put Terra Nova at the bottom of that list on which ones I hope get renewed. But I'd certainly put Fringe first!

Kevin said...

I do know that on March 12 there is a 2 hour episode scheduled for Alcatraz, so you would assume there is some kind of enlightenment or cliff hanger involved there, and then the following week Alcatraz will proceed the weekly showing of Touch.

Hopefully if it can find some equalibrium over the next few weeks, it will get a shot in the arm come March and gain some staying power.

Kevin said...

Check that, my bad. The two hour episode must be the season finale...House will proceed Touch on 3/19.

Mike V. said...

Kevin, I think they actually revised the schedule a bit. Alcatraz has 12 episodes and they were going to throw a 2 hour episode in there at some point. But I think they broke up the finale into 2 separate weeks so that in one week they can overlap Alcatraz and Touch. And then once Alcatraz's episodes are done they'll resume the final season of House and air it with Touch. Something like that I think. lol FOX has definitely been doing some confusing scheduling this year, but I have gone on record saying that I kinda like it. I like that we've been able to get all of these different shows in one season with half season orders. I think it helps keep the show from getting stale too. It's almost like mirroring how cable tv seasons work. More focused storylines, less filler.

Here's where I read about the schedule changes. You can probably even see some of my comments in the comments section. lol I'm the "mike" with a link to this site!

http://www.tvline.com/2012/02/fox-schedule-changes-alcatraz-house-fringe/

Kevin said...

Cool, I like the sound of that better. You had a good point about March Madness too. I forgot about that.

MJ said...

Kelly - oh yeah - he could be sneezy ! I didn't think of that. I jsut thought it has something to do with Rumple.

I read somewhere - and it cracked me up - that when they showed Belle in prison at the end they were waiting for the squirrel baby to appear. LOL

I didn't get to watch Ringer last night. Too much other stuff. Will try tonight - but will def watch Revenge on time. It's the Fire and Ice party - part two !

I regret giving up Cougartown all those years ago, and it's just too hard to catch up now. One day.

Smash was pretty good again. I was positive they were going to have both girls, one as Norma Jean and one as Marily. We shall see. 'Grace's' letter to the birthmother was just gorgeous.

River - still pretty good. Didn't know how it would be after the premier but I liked it. And I like that the reality show producer called that security guy on having the secret SAT phone. So many shows show that sort of stuff bunt never follow up with the chars talking about it.



It's getting hard to remember again what shows we are discussing on this blog as opposed to the TWD blog as opposed to Fringe. UGH!

Mike V. said...

MJ - I hear ya, I don't know what I can do to fix it besides post a separate blog for each show. But then the site would ultimately get pretty unorganized! lol But, we were discussing HIMYM in the TWD blog and I posted a few responses there. lol And unfortunately, because the Fringe blog is on Saturdays, it inevitably gets the shaft in getting a good discussion, when it probably deserves it the most!! :-( But it's all good. lol Hmm...maybe I could add LABELS to the blogs (you can see it at the end of each short post on the main page) with the names of shows we're discussing in them so the few of us that do discuss these other shows, would know where to look. lol

Good times with Squirrel baby! That's fantastic.

I'm caught up on everything that I've been watching right now except Shameless. Will try to get to that tonight. (RIVER is still tivoing and I'll watch later on. Same with Justified. And maybe Ringer, Person of Interest, Revenge....yikes...too much!!)

Cougartown reminded us all of why we missed it so much last night. FANTASTIC! Loved the opening title card. It had the normal big COUGARTOWN logo and then in smaller script above and below it ...it said. "Yes the show is still called...LOGO.....and we still regret it" LOL Fantastic!

I really am enjoying SMASH. I don't think we're done with Karen's involvement in the Marilyn musical. But you never know..maybe she'll get cast in My Fair Lady or something. lol But who knows...maybe news will break that Commodore Norrington (sorry, Pirates of the Carribean reference...since we haven't mentioned he was in that too) slept with her and they'll have to get rid of her or something. I just don't undestand how they couldn't cast both of them. I would think Broadway newbies Karen would be perfectly happy being an understudy. Plus, she'd get to do the matinees! But alas, it's TV! The birthmother letter was really fantastic. And how about the music?? These original tunes are really good. I really get the sense that this could be an actual musical. We'll see if the quality holds up.

Kelly said...

lol, yeah I agree that it gets confusing to remember what posts are where! We'll manage though.. if i repeat anything anyone has said on another post, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world :)
I won't spoil Ringer for you, MJ, but there were a few WTF moments that I'm sure you will enjoy :) Oh! And there seemed to be a shoutout to Buffy. I don't know if you watched Buffy, but there was a rule in that show that vampires couldn't go into a house without being invited in. On Ringer, Olivia went to Henry's house and asked to be invited in. Henry asked if she was a vampire, lol. It was just something that made me smile :)
I figured the drug store guy was Sneezy before because in the Hansel and Gretel episode, when H&G and Henry got caught stealing, that guy was sneezing then, too.
Did I mention that I loved that Belle "created" Chip? So cute :)
I liked The River too, though I was a bit tired when I watched it. I found myself not paying as much attention as I should have.
HOORAY REVENGE!!!! Can't wait can't wait can't wait!

Mike V. said...

Yeah, forgot to mention the whole "CHIP" thing. That was pretty funny. Also funny was that they dressed Belle up in both of her animated outfits from the movie. lol

Leslie said...

Cougar Town - can I just say the scene with Stan, the devil baby, with his matching ankle bracelet cracked me up!

I haven't watched this week's Smash yet, but watched The River last night. I also liked it again. It still managed some creepy moments that tap into some of those basic fears many people have, but the camera stuff bothered me more this week than last.

And, Mike, I rewatched that scene with the drugs/mints again. You were right; I heard that wrong. I also checked the first episode because I was curious about Hauser since most of us thought he was a new guard in the first episode, but I think he was just on transfer duty then also because when they discovered all the prisoners gone, his partner said, "Call the station and tell them to send everyone." And, when they showed him opening that trunk with his name on it, they showed his uniform, and you could clearly see the SFPD badge.

Mike V. said...

CT - The devil baby in general was hysterical but LOVED the ankle bracelet! lol Loved the green screen at Travis's apartment too. I'm sure we'll be sick of it soon enough, but for this one episode it was pretty hysterical.

Anyone out there watch New Girl? Once again another fabulous episode. I just don't understand how there are lots of people so put off by the show. I can't stop laughing when I'm watching. I only wonder how much better/worse it would have been if Damon Wayans Jr. would have stayed on as COACH if Happy Endings got cancelled. I do like Winston though so it doesn't bother me. lol

ALCATRAZ - Nice, thanks for double checking that scene! Good to know I still have some mad listening skills. lol J/K And way to go double checking the pilot episode! That does make sense that he was SFPD since, you know, he didn't vanish with the 63s. But, he still had ties to people there which made him very invested in figuring out what happened. I wonder if we'll ever get Emerson flashbacks of his investigation AFTER the 63s disappeared. That would be pretty interesting.

Kelly said...

Thanks for checking out that scene, Leslie!
Looks like TV took a hit last night.. http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/02/15/cougar-town-ratings/

Mike V. said...

I saw that too, Kelly. Let's just hope we have Valentine's Day to blame! I'm sure that was part of it. lol It look like Ringer took a HUGE hit. That's a shame.

Kelly said...

Yeah, it's a bit disappointing that Ringer got such terrible ratings.. I do hope that these numbers are simply because of V-day.. seems like this week so far has been a bad tv week!
That said, I'm not sure I'd be all that upset if Ringer were canceled. Don't get me wrong, I love the show.. but I can't really see how they can sustain it for all that long. It seems like they're really chugging along as it is!
Ah, well.. all I really care about at this particular moment is REVENGE!!!!!

MJ said...

Yes - watch Shameless. I actually felt sorry for Frank !

Maybe the labels would be a good idea. We all watch and discuss too much. LOL

OMG! He was Norrington in Pirates? Wow - I didn't remember that at all.

Love the songs. The won Ivy sung at the club to celebrate getting the part was my fave last night.

When he told the producer he wanted to tell her something before she found out another way i actually thought he was going to tell about sleeping with Ivy for a moment.

I think they are going to cast both but one to play Norma Jean and one to play Bomgshell Marilyn - and they both understudy eachother. i see so many ways they can show both sides of Marilyn so should have them both.

Kelly

I loved Buffy back in the day - glad they gave it a little shout out.

I also liked Belle making 'chip' - I even heard the song humming in my head Be our Guest Be our Guest. Too too cute, and I totally forgot it - so thanks for the reminder.

It's not that I care about repeated posts - its that ic an't find where the Once talk is, where the HIMYM talk is, etc LOL Just wait til your middle aged ! ;-D

Agree about Ringer - if it stayed too long I think the core mystery would start to suck. Not the story to last 5 years.

I watch New Girl. I'm a sucker for most sitcoms. They rest my brain as most do not have on-going stories to stay with. I did stop happy Endings - Wayans got on my nerve as did the gay guy, But i liked Wayons on new Girl. Go figure.

Mike V. said...

Posting from my phone so I'll comment more later but I had to say that song at the end of smash was a Carrie underwood song from a couple albums ago. Their take on it was really good but you may have recognized it if you became a carrie fan watching idol :) lol j/k

MJ said...

Ringer:

OMG! This show is just a hoot !

So the teacher was in on the whole plot with Juliet and the Ho Bag !?! You'd think they would have dragged that out and had the whole courtroom scene - guess they were saving their budget for other shoots. LOL

I actually liked the lie to the driver - I used to be a drunk and now I'm not so I need to retrace things I did. He is the ONLY one to not really wonder why Sibhoan doesn't seem to know herself or her like. LOL

Real Sib never fails to amaze - telling Henry she planned all this with Bridget. But - if I were Henry I'd be like - so why can't you talk to your sister now ? They really make the men on this show pretty idiotic.

Wishes in the table was pretty thin. But what really got me was she only realizes her sister hasn't forgiven her after reading that ?? Really ?

And Tyler thinks it's ok that when he video calls Sib that her brother should be laying there in his robe ?? LOL

My fave part was when real Sib was in the house and hubby comes home - she jsut did not know what to do with him so she just walks out ! WTF !?!

And maybe I'm a dim bulb but how does finding out that real Sib knew Charlie/John equal someone else out there is trying to hurt me?? I don't get that connection.

Mike - what's with the two word verification now ?

Mike V. said...

Didn't even notice there was a 2 word verification! I had to log out to see it. lol That's crazy. I guess it's a global Blogger update. I'm not a fan of the word verifications but I threw them in there back in the LOST days once I started getting hammered with SPAM comments. Probably wouldn't matter too much on this site! But...just in case I'll leave em on. Let me know if they get too annoying!

But yes...SMASH Director is Norrington from Pirates. I made the connection in the Flashforward days. Pretty crazy. They must have cast a few people from British TV shows since Gareth from the Office was the dude with the fake eyeball. lol

I'll consider the labels. It may be helpful for us but I wouldn't want to confuse any other people who click on a recap looking for a full fledged "RINGER" recap or anything. :) Not that you guys don't do a fantastic job! lol

And yes, the song IVY sang at the club is "Crazy Dreams" from Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride album. Is it girl that I kow that? You betcha! But that girl has mad singing skills. lol Plus my wife is from the south so I'm allowed to listen to her. :) I thought Norrington was going to tell Morticia Adams (oh yes, I went there) the same thing! I thought he was going to come clean about sleeping with Ivy.

But yeah, I've read similar rumors that one will play Norma Jean and the other Marilyn. The writers are still writing the play so there they could still come up with something like that. Makes sense that they would both understudy each other too.

Happy endings still has its moments, but last night was not one of them!!

SHAMELESS - finally watched!! Really great episode and Frank's Mother? OMG. She's flat out nuts. I hear you on feeling bad for Frank now. So many more inappropriate moments from that ep once again and far too many to mention. Nice to have Jimmy/Steve back in the picture causing Fiona problems as always. But Frank's Mom vs. Joan Cusack was the highlight of this ep. I knew that gun was coming out just didn't know what was going to happen. lol Great stuff!

Yes - watch Shameless. I actually felt sorry for Frank !

Maybe the labels would be a good idea. We all watch and discuss too much. LOL

Mike V. said...

OH yeah, I rewtweeted this news last night but figured I'd mention it here. Terry O'Quinn got picked up for a new ABC "supernatural" pilot. 666 Park Avenue. Creeepy. lol

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/02/15/former-lost-star-scores-lead-in-new-abc-supernatural-pilot/

MJ said...

Good one on the idol comment ;-) Disappointed though, thought they were actually writing some songs. Guess the ones for the actual show are the originals.

Shameless: I agree there is so much inappropriateness that it's hard to recall it. But Frank peeing his bed cause of mom was hysterical. And Sheila kicking him out !

Ugh ! So now they are all doing to do 'supernatural' shows since TWD, AHS and Grimm are popular. I know one net is doing a cross between Grimm and Once set in manhatten. I love supernatural shows - but when there are too many then the quality is questionable then they get yanked but the good ones always get yanked with them.

Speaking of - surprised no one here watches Haven. Has issues of the week but a running mystery as well.

Leslie said...

Modern Family - it's sometimes hard to pick which storyline is the funniest on this show! The whole baby thing was hysterical! One of my favorite lines was Gloria saying "It's a freak show, but it's their freak show."

Agree on Happy Endings. I thought the first season was OK, but this year, not so much, and last night was one of the worst episodes.

I watched Revenge, but I'll wait until I know MJ and Kelly watched before commenting.

Mike V. said...

@MJ - I think it's a combination yeah. There will be covers but the musical songs itself are originals. Those were the ones that I was referring to in my first comment about the great songs!

Shameless - Frank peeing the bed was great! Especially when he was sleeping in the van at the end with his son and he told him that he peed the bed. Frank just said "find a dry spot" and rolled over and went back to bed. Fantastic!! lol

Yep, I got the same vibe from this new Terry show. Following the trend of the other supernatural shows. You know...i was skeptical with Vampire Diaries when it came on...that they were just cashing in on the vampire craze. but it turned out to be a really good show. So, you never know!

Haven - sounds like a SyFy show, am I right? The reason I don't watch is because I never get over to that channel! lol Hence, why I missed BSG in the first place. :-)

@Leslie - MF was fantastic and yes the BABY thing had to be the best storyline of the night. Gotta love when ideas sound so much better when you're drunk. lol Cam doing all of those pictures was hysterical. Him and Justin Timberlake!?! classic. Loved that Gloria line too!

Happy Endings - If any of you watched Friends...do any of you remember that season 1 episode where Monica dates Alan? All of the friends were going to be judgemental but then ended up loving him more than Monica did. And all she wanted to do was break up with him. When she finally did...Alan said he couldn't stand her friends so he was relieved. I know the show made reference to it being a modern age Friends last week or the week before....but come on...that episode was a blatant rip-off! And the worst part is how annoying it was!! lol The show does have potential every now and then...but I agree...season 1 was a lot better.

MJ said...

Revenge:

OMG ! I did not think it would be Tyler dead. Read article this am that says it was always Tyler and this was not a switch and bait.

There has to be a reason, beyond driving the Faux Amanda away from the scene, for Takeda to be back.

Faux Emily tells Ashley that her and Daniel were 'having the same argument' - when have we ever heard them argue? And they have gone out of their way twice now to show that Faux Emily is brushing sand off her hand when she is having this conversation.

Obviously that picture that Tyler shows Daniel will be a game changer. Can't wait to see it.

So - Daniel is way to obvious to be the killer. Faux Amanda too obvious since she was found standing over the body. Jack too. But interesting that the siblings of both Daniel and Jack will be looked at as well since they were both known to be on the beach together.

Did I see a weird look between Nolan and Takeda ? Nolan def up to something.

Read this am that they cut a scene but Charlotte lies to Declan about going to see that therapist. So something down the line will be about that.

Realisticly - Tylers car will be taken in by the cops and they would find the Revenge Box. So i guess we can assume that Tyler took it out of his car at some point ? Maybe Faux Amanda hid it.

RINGER: Meant to say - how ridiculous were the white foot prints in the closet? So - real Sib walked thru flour before entering her office, left prints in the closet, but not prints in the room she crossed to get in and out of said closet ? Laughable.

Leslie said...

Mike, you're so right! I LOVE Friends and thought about that episode when I was watching last night. I think that's what made it so bad! Let's face it, there won't be another LOST, and there won't be another Friends.

The pics Cam did were funny! And, when Lily came in and screamed with them, cracked me up again! Love this show!

Revenge - I want them to explain how we clearly see that it was Daniel falling face forward on the beach in the beginning, then it turned out to be Tyler that was dead. I think Takeda is the likely shooter, but I’m not sure how Nolan fits in because that was a weird look between them. I don’t know if he was brought into the scheme with Emily and Takeda so it was a knowing look, or if he’s up to no good.

If Charlotte didn’t go to the therapist, and we saw her taking the oxycodone at the party, she is obviously on a bad path.

At the party, the gift that Takeda gave Emily was the box. Takeda got it somehow, that’s why I think he’s the shooter because then he magically shows up to give Amanda a ride. And, of course, Amanda must have been hit when Tyler shot at her since Jack had blood on his hands after hugging her. The reason they showed Emily with sand on her hands is because she took the box and buried it on the beach before the shooting.

MJ said...

Revenge: Duh! I don't now hoe but i had totally forgotten the entire scene of Takeda giving Emily back her box and her burying it ! How could I forget all tht ?!?

You are right Leslie - we clearly see Daniel fall, and we see blood on him at the end. We were left assuming it's tylers blood but I think he has also been shot.

Nolan was puzzling. He was watching the boat and acting very funny, then of course that look with Takeda. Def something going on.

I'm crushed to learn that it's not on next week !

Modern Family - another great ep. Loved the photo mashes, and dad's and glorias reaction to the whole idea of Cam and Claire having a baby. And that the one looked like Manny.

Leslie said...

MJ, yeah, wasn't there one shot and then a delay and a couple of more shots? I'm thinking there was a struggle between Daniel and Tyler when the gun went off, and maybe that's why we see Daniel fall, but then Takeda comes in and takes out Tyler, and it's gonna look like Daniel shot Tyler.

I didn't get why Amanda showed up to ask Jack to take her with him and promising to never leave again, then getting cab fare and running away.

Kelly said...

My original post was too long, lol!! So I’m breaking it down into parts:

REVENGE:
I think Amanda left right after saying she wasn't going to leave Jack again because after Jack toldh er that Emily was the only one to tell Jack to go for it with Amanda, she realized that Emily really was her friend and wanted to help her out. I think Dogen (er, I mean TAKEDA- sorry, he'll always be Dogen to me!) knocked out Daniel, took the picture from Daniel's hands, and killed Tyler. Takeda had said something about putting Emily's plan back on track, and I think he's doing it by killing Tyler and framing Daniel. The stuff with Amanda though? No idea. Is he gonna kill her? I hope so! Lol.. Maybe he'll get rid of her somehow.. or train her for a revenge plot of her own, lol.
I really need to watch it again. I think the person that did the shooting (or the person that took the photo from Daniel, if they are two different people) was wearing a black jacket. Since the men were wearing white at the ball, I want to see who was wearing black. Ugh, why did I erase it from my DVR so quickly?? lol!
Though I'm not surprised that it was Tyler on the beach, I am a bit disappointed. I thought this show would have the stones to kill off a major character, but just like Clay on SOA, they teased it but never let it happen. I read that article as well, MJ, and I figured that since they never let you see the face of the dead guy on the beach, it wouldn't be Daniel. I've watched enough TV in my life (too much, perhaps!) that it usually is too predictable for me. Even twists are predictable! That is not to say that I didn't like the episode, because I loved it. And it's one of my favorite shows this season, so I will definitely continue to enjoy the ride! The reveal of Tyler being the one who dies wasn't as shocking as it probably should have been, but whatever! There's still the mystery of "whodunit" that we can chew on, and I can't wait to find out more :)

RINGER:
MJ, you are totally right- the men on this show are so dumb. Hence stupid Tyler believing that a robe-wearing Henry is Shiv's brother. Ugh, what an idiot!
And wtf is up with Malcolm? Bridget keeps calling him and leaving voicemails, is he never answering or calling her back? I know, I know, they are really just using Bridget's calls to Malcolm as sort of an exposition.. but why does it have to be so blatant? It takes away from the show, because it just sounds lo fake.
The Juliet/Ho Bag/Teacher stuff was definitely something I didn't totally see coming.. Though I was still on the fence about Juliet telling the truth about the teacher (Cunningham?), especially after she couldn't get her story straight. It seems like she's kind of regretting it though. Or she's at least not too happy about whatever's going on with HoBag and Teach.
OMG I loved that scene when Andrew came home and the real Siobhan was there! It was so awkward for her, and I thought it was hilarious!
I agree on Shiv’s footprints.. did she just step in a pile of chalk and carefully plant them there? LOL! Totally unbelievable on that one. I also agree that finding out that Charlie/John was friends with Shiv has nothing to do with someone still wanting to hurt Bridget. Grow a brain, girl! You used to fight vampires, use those Slayer smarts!

Kelly said...

PART TWO:

MODERN FAMILY:
I thought it was a good episode, as usual. None of the episodes are inherently BAD, but for some reason this show doesn't make me laugh like it used to. I wonder why that is... I did love the scene in the restaurant when they all got drunk. Funny stuff :) this show is definitely better than a lot of the junk that's out there, so why am I a little disappointed in it this season?

CONFUSING POSTS:
MJ, I agree that it's confusing to figure out what's being talked about where. I personally stick to the Alcatraz posts, since that's the only show I watch that Mike recaps (yes, yes, I know I have to watch Fringe! I promise I will watch it someday, lol). And let's see, I watch many shows but only really comment on Alcatraz, Revenge, Ringer, and Once. Lately a couple afterthought comments about The River... I'm also watching Grimm, 90210(but not for long), Hawaii 5-0, Top Shot, Top Chef (also on the chopping block, no pun intended), Pan Am (I had to, I was an aviation major lol), The Office (chopping block), and The Bachelor (the second and last time I will be watching those shows). I think that's it, lol.. So if anyone wants to comment on those as well, you know where to find me!

MJ said...

Revenge

I think FauxManda wanted to leave because she was crushed when Tyler convinced her that FauxEmily had betrayed her. So she wanted to go with him and never leave again. Then Jack told her that it was FauxEmily that had encouraged him to be with her, so she wanted to go warn FauxEmily what Tyler had planned. just my thoughts.

Takeda is Dogen ? Really ? Didn't catch that !

Def wearing a black jacket, white shirt and black gloves. But no one had a black jacket at this party, but they could have had a change of clothes in the car. they all drove to the party most likely.

I was surprised it way Ty only because I thought he was already off the show. LOL I knew they wouldn't kill Daniel, but I thought it was him shot and then there would be someone else killed on the beach as well. there were 3 shots afterall.

I think Daniel is shot though - just not dead. They ended very quickly with the the look of Daniel with blood on him - he has to have been shot - or hit over the head at least for him to fall to the sand.

Can't believe we have to wait 2 weeks for a new ep !

This show is all about the twists - so it's not takeda or Daniel that is the killer. Probably not even Nolan.

let's not forget that they set us up in the pilot seeing someone die on the beach who we didn't even meet for weeks after that.

MJ said...

yeah - Juliet def looked at teach and ho-bag funny toward the end there. She didn't look too guilthy though when they were talking about this being the only way to get her trust fund back.

Guess the show doesn't want to pay the actor paying malcolm to be in like 10 seconds of the show. LOL

LOL on the 'you used to fight vamps'. Good one.

But i know - finding out that Shib and John knew eachother in no way means someone is still trying to kill you. WTH !

Mod Fam: Meant to say that Claire's hair the morning after drinking for some reason had me lauging hysterically.

Ok - so you me and Leslie then have to remember that we'll talk Revenge and we can talk Ringer on Alcatraz then !

Mike V. said...

Holy Crap! This looks like when I'd skip 5 minutes after a LOST recap was posted! lol Of course, most of it is around shows I'm not caught up on so I'll pick and choose my responses! :-)

@Leslie - Friends was my favorite comedy of all time too. I agree...nothing will ever match LOST and Friends for me. Even if better quality shows come....the experience I had watching both of those shows will be unmatched!

@Everyone

MODERN FAMILY - Agree with everyone it was hysterical. Kelly, not sure why you're disappointed. I think it's been just as funny as it always has been. Season 1 is probably my favorite so far though just because it was so unique to everything else that was out there. They have kept that winning formula alive but it's 3 years in now and it's just expected to be funny. lol

CONFUSING POSTS - Glad you guys are sorting out your strategies. To add to that, I would think that Anything that airs Sunday Nights would probably be good to discuss in The Walking Dead posts until TWD airs it's finale. (then I guess it would migrate to Fringe posts. lol Anything that Airs on Monday through Thursday, probably the Alcatraz posts is the best place to discuss. Man, i wonder how annoying this is for people that JUST watch Fringe, Alcatraz and The Walking Dead and they have to sift through these comments. lol

Leslie said...

Revenge - That makes sense about why Amanda changed her mind. And, MJ, you're probably right that the killer is someone else all together that we haven't considered. Who knows!

Mike, I guess it's time I admit that while I have been a TV addict for a LONG time, this blog (and it started with LOST Addicts) has become an extension of my addiction. It's good to have a place to go where people understand and don't make mean comments like you see on other sites! lol

Mike V. said...

Totally hear you Leslie. I'm glad you enjoy the blogs! I enjoy discussing this stuff with everyone too! As much as I would have loved the rabid commenting that happened on the LOST blog to extend to the shows that followed, I think it was for the best. There was no way I could have kept up that commitment unless it was a full time job! LOL

BTW, anyone who is anxious to see Awake can watch the PILOT now!! I'm hoping this means iTunes and Amazon will make it available for free too so I can watch it on my TV. Not sure if I'll sit at my computer and watch or not. but enjoy of you do!

http://www.tvline.com/2012/02/watch-awake-premiere-nbc/

Kelly said...

I totally agree Leslie! It's nice making a comment and not having someone call you horrible names or tell you how wrong you are, lol.. ever see the comment sections on EW.com's articles? Man, they are cutthroat! People are such jerks on the internet, I guess it's because they can hide behind a virtual persona. I definitely appreciate how chill everyone is here, and I love how we all give our own insight without fear of being chastised!
I saw that you can watch the pilot now, Mike.. so excited! Though I do want to watch it on my 61" TV, not my much-smaller computer screen. I'm probably gonna hold off... or check my NBC On Demand on my cable. They always make stuff like that available when it's released on the internet.

Kelly said...

oh btw, I love Friends too :)
and it looks like ratings for Revenge tied it's all-time low :( don't see how that's possible! GRR! It really is a bad week for TV, isn't it??
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/02/16/tv-ratings-wednesday-survivor-starts-lower-american-idol-leads-fox-win-surrounded-by-competitions-ratings-lows/120159/comment-page-5/

Mike V. said...

Oh, I live on the EW.com comments sections and TVline.com comments. I AM that guy that tells people they are wrong but I do it in a nice way. lol My goal on EW these days is to get lots of thumbs ups for my comments. lol If you see a "mike" on there making a lot of sense, it's probably me!

Just to be sure, I wanted to state again that the AWAKE premiere is available for viewing now!
I know I already posted it in my last comment but this is big news!!

http://www.tvline.com/2012/02/watch-awake-premiere-nbc/

Mike V. said...

Oh yeah, and totally agree people are ridiculously ruthless in comments sections. Our world may have gotten TOO social when every article is posted with the ability to comment. Many people do not have intelligent things to say and should just shut up! lol Oh and if you want to see some really ridiculous comments, go to Yahoo.com articles! lol BTW, have you ever seen the SNL sketch "The comments section"? It's pretty hysterical and so true. Check it out on youtube!

And I hear you Kelly on not watching on the computer. I do have a nice iMAC at home, but I'd still have to sit at my computer desk and watch. Or I could run an HDMI cable to my TV from the computer (how I watched a lot of THE WIRE last summer).

Anyway, if I see it available on iTunes or Amazon or on demand or whatever, I'll let you guys know!

Mike V. said...

Just a heads up...AWAKE is on itunes so i'm guessing everywhere else too!!

Mike V. said...

AWAKE: I'm not going to talk details but I will say that I watched it last night. Got it off iTunes and watched on my Apple TV (great little gizmo to have btw). The HIGH DEF was incredible on the show. I'm sure it was the way it was filmed but you could see the wrinkles and pores on these people's faces. Insane.

Anyway...the pilot episode is phenomenal (as I tweeted last night lol). I don't know if a pilot ep can get much better. Now, we'll just have to see how they play with the premise over a whole season/series. Don't want to say more until people have seen it! But if you get a chance to watch the sneak preview (via iTunes, Amazon, On Demand, or online via the link I posted)...DO IT! And spread the word! It would be a shame if this show doesn't find an audience.

Kelly said...

Oh cool! I'm so glad that it was as good as I was expecting. I did watch the first 7 minutes when they made that available, and I was definitely hooked in those 7 minutes. WOO! I can't wait to watch it!
I will like all posts done by Mikes on ew.com, lol.. if you happen to see anything by a "woobie143", that's me :)

Kelly said...

and BTW- did I ever tell you that I started coming here because I saw you commenting on one of Doc Jensen's Lost articles? You put the link to the blog in your comment and I figured I'd check it out. So good job networking! LOL!

Mike V. said...

NICE Kelly! lol There are some Mikes on there that are not as cool as me. I should probabyl start adding my signature V next to my name. :-)

I'm not sure if you ever mentioned that. But I know season 3 was the first big influx to the Lost Addicts Blog. Jensen slacked on a recap (which later I found out was for personal reasons that made me feel a little guilty). People were complaining in the comments and I posted a link and said something like "I did a recap too if you want to check it out"....before I knew it...people were saying they'd never read Jensen again and that they'd always go to my site. I felt really bad about it! lol But ever since that day, the number of people that went to the site grew exponentially each season. (obviously not any more lol) I think it eventually was because when you typed "Lost Blog" in google it was the 3rd site that showed up. lol Not too shabby!

One time i had a poll on the site that asked people what made them start reading the blog. Answers were: Family, Were on the email distribution list, Referred by a friend, or the EW Purge!! LOL Good times.

EW has gotten smarter now and doesn't let you put links on all of their sites. But TVLINE.com openly lets you!

Enjoy Awake whenever you watch it!

MJ said...

I haven't watched Awake yet - probably won't until the premier. I still haven't watched the preview of Touch ! LOL

I also came here during Lost from EW. Besides them being so mean I found Doc Jensen to be too long and a little high faluttin for me with all those literary references. Though I did go back once he started the videos - they were fun.

I cant believe that Revenge was down ! WTH ! Seems like everything was down so I guess it really was just a bad week for tv.

Well - have a great weekend everyone.

Mike V. said...

Yeah I couldn't keep up with Doc once he went into 10 page recap territory (though mine were probably just as long, just not as much filled with literary referenecs)....But TOTALLY LOST videos? They were fantastic!

Leslie said...

I came to your LOST blog from a Google search. That was the first time I was looking for stuff online about a TV show and found you that way! And, the rest is history!

Does anyone watch Big Bang Theory? I don't remember if I have ever read a comment on it. I watched the last 2 episodes last night and Sheldon had a LOST reference, but it was about the "disappointing" ending. His words, not mine. I LOVED it!

Mike V. said...

So crazy how the blog blew up like that, but interesting to hear how people found it! I tell the story on occassion. But the recaps started as just lists of things I found interesting in episodes and was emailing to friends at work and friends I knew watching the show. And the reason I was doing that is because I found myself repeating the same information in emails over and over again. But then my work email distribution became too large and I didn't want to be sending it out on my work email. So, I had heard of this thing called "blogging" and figured I'd check it out. The first few LOST recaps out there were emails that I copied and pasted onto the site. (BTW...in case anyone cared...my Idol recaps started off as emails too. lol) So, instead of sending emails with a whole recap in it...i'd still send the email to people but just with a link (still do that today but the distribution lists are much smaller). The email list kept expanding as friends would tell friends. And I think I was getting about 50 hits per recap, which I thought was pretty darn big! lol But then, when I put that link on EW and people started posting comments in season 3...the blog took on a life of its own! Really crazy how it happened. I mean, because of you people I ended up on the tampa news!! lol Always fun to look back!

I absolutely watch The Big Bang Theory and do not really recall a bad episode! I did hear the LOST reference and have a little bit of Twitter fun to add to the story. Co-Creator and Showrunner of LOST Damon Lindelof (who has been taking people's negative reactions to the LOST finale to heart)....tweeted the following without censorship. "F You Sheldon!" ....I happened to agree with him this time! lol Then, in response (we assume) Bill Prady (writer/producer on BBT) made a comment saying that there are some people fictional or non-fictional that just don't like anything. I forget the exact words, but you could tell that he loved the LOST finale...but someone like Sheldon probably wouldn't have. It was a good time!

(And I will keep citing examples of why being on Twitter adds to the experience of watching television and just enjoying life! lol)

Kelly said...

You were on the Tampa news? Cool!! I used to be on a Lost message board called Lost in the Hatch. A reporter from the LA Times interviewed a few os us members (myself included) for an article she was doing.. When I read the article, I was so annoyed because she totally took my words out of context, making me sound soooo cheesy and clueless! Now I know what they mean by the media twisting words around. I was so embarrassed that I didn't even tell anyone when the article was out, so no one knew, lol.
I have tried watching Big Bang Theory.. while I'm a total nerd and should enjoy the humor, I really can't stand Sheldon. He's so anal that it bothers me. I'm sure it's supposed to be "cute" or whatever, but it turns me off. Kinda like how everyone loved Napoleon Dynamite, but I just wanted to punch him in the face! LOL!
I loved Jensen's recaps, but like you guys said, sometimes it was a little "blowhardy".. he blathered on a lot, though he had some nice insight.

Mike V. said...

Well everyone on the show tends to get irritated by Sheldon too. lol Jim Parsons is so good at playing him though. I don't think I ever associated it with being cute but he does crack me up. You need to watch the season 2 episode where Penny and Sheldon exchange Christmas gifts. The payoff is hysterical. I might be able to find it on youtube. lol But that would make any sci-fi fan a Sheldon convert!

Yep, I was on the Tampa News immediately after the season 5 finale. While I wasn't completely accurate with my suggestions for what happened, I wasn't too far off! And the biggest question about resetting time, I absolutely was dead on about! lol I was down to my wedding weight in this video (we got married a few weeks after) and it just makes me sad to watch, plus i'm just embarrased at my facial expressions and stuff I normally don't know I'm doing. But I'll let you watch! lol Ironically, I was also featured in the LA Times for something I did for a tumblr thing. I wonder if it was the same reporter/blogger that interviewed you guys. Here's all the links! lol

Sheldon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyQz8jWAl7s

Me on TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JsAc50Zso4

Me in LA Times (and this article was also referred to by Doc Jensen in one of his columns): http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/05/the-lost-weekend-jacob-on-the-winedark-sea.html

God, I miss LOST!

Leslie said...

Mike, that's interesting how you came to start the LOST blog. I hadn't heard you tell that story. It feels like so long ago!

Funny about the Twitter stuff on BBT. And, I agree there are some people that just don't like anything, and Sheldon would be a hard sell. The whole thing with the painting that Amy gave Penny was so funny! I think the writers have done a good job with the addition of Amy and Bernadette. They bring a lot more funny interactions to the storylines.

Mike V. said...

Totally agree with Amy and Bernadette. Once I heard they were signed on as regulars I really thought it might mess with the formula of the show and the fun moments that the "guys have" on their own. But, somehow they find a way to incorporate it all into the show successfully. Gotta love when Bernadette talks like Howard's mother and Amy's fascination with Penny. Yes, the picture was hysterical! lol

Leslie said...

LOL! That was a GREAT scene to share with Kelly! Fun to see that again along your LOST interview. I remember when you posted that at the time.

Kelly said...

That was awesome (you on TV and you being mentioned in the LA Times article)!
And yes, that was a good scene involving Sheldon, but I'm not a convert just yet. Jim Parsons does an excellent job, and I enjoyed his cameo in The Muppets immensely, but I just can't get into that show. Oh well, I have enough on my plate anyway, lol!