Though most people on *this* list know this (and more) I thought I'd toss out some info on a few series that I've enjoyed. You may have missed some, but with rerun season here, now's a good time to check 'em out and see what you've been missing. Remember when rerun season was fun, as you could finally watch all the shows you missed while watching other shows? Course that was in the pre-VCR/PVR days... "Lost" Wednesdays at 8 pm, ABC -- Season one has just started its reruns. Great show that keeps you guessing. Are the passengers in some kind of giant lab? Another dimension/time? Is the island in someone's imagination? Are they all dead? Polar bears on a tropical island?? The plane crash--shown from several different perspectives in the first few eps--is quite harrowing. Don't watch if you're afraid of flying. Season two's going to continue the guessing, if the really wild ending of season one is any indication. Can they possibly keep an audience confused, guessing, and anxious for another whole season and not cause them to lose interest? We'll see. I'm willing to give 'em the chance! <http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index.html> http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index.html "The 4400" Season 2 premieres June 5 at 9 pm, USA over 4000 people appear on the shores of a lake one day, deposited there by a giant ball of light. The group consists of folks missing from throughout the world, and throughout time . They include doctors, lawyers, teens, and even a little girl who went missing back before WWII. None of them has aged a day. Many start exhibiting strange powers such as telepathy, precognition, the ability to bring the dead back to life. A government agency monitors the 4400 to see whether they pose a threat to humanity. Season one started strong, but quickly faded to a plodding show of investigators stalking people while never really doing anything. We have time to ponder questions such as why only two major investigators to track 4400 people? Is it a violation of civil rights to monitor these people. How long will these obvious super powers continue to be overlooked by the agency? It almost reminds one of the "X-Files"--only without a Muldar to be the voice of fanatic belief. And a one-theme show like this can degenerate very quickly into a boring collection of monotonous "power of the week" episodes if not handled properly. Still, a good cast, an intriguing premise, and lots of room to work with will have me coming back for season two. <http://www.usanetwork.com/series/the4400/> http://www.usanetwork.com/series/the4400/ "Medium" Mondays at 10 pm, NBC Reruns start June 5. I was skeptical of any scifi/supernatural show on network TV, but this one caught me by surprise. Based on the true story of a real life medium who's on record as helping police with her psychic powers. Patricia Arquette does a great job as a lady using her gift--sometimes reluctanctly--to help others. Well-written stories, moving stories, sometimes disturbing stories (murderers and all kinds of freaks abound), but never boring stories. Just when you think it'll become a repetitive "gimmick of the week" show, they throw you a curve, such as Arquette's character guessing wrong, or being pressured by her husband and boss to circumvent the law by using her powers. The show is grounded in Arquette's desire to have a "normal" family life, despite the fact of the growing psychic powers of her two oldest daughters! And this may sound weid, but I love the fact that she and her husband fight and yell, that their kids' hair needs combing, that the house looks vaguely like something from "Roseanne". All reminders that, mental powers aside, this is just a lady trying to live as normal a life as possible. <http://www.nbc.com/Medium/> http://www.nbc.com/Medium/ Justice League Unlimited Saturdays at 9 pm, Cartoon Netwoork. Now in its second season. Skip this paragraph unless you're a lover of comics and 'toons like me. For the rest, this show is a blast. The roster's been expanded from the original JL cartoon of a couple of years ago. Heroes and villains that you've always wanted (or maybe never wanted) to see are here, including Solomon Grundy, Vixen, Atom Smasher, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and many others. Intelligenty written, sometimes surprisingly mature (such as Green Lantern John Stewart being asked by an alien GL, "Do you still snore"?) Kudos to the latest ongoing theme that the government distrusts the JL due to their powers and autonomy (to say nothing about the armed satellite orbiting Earth!) and is willing to go to extreme means to reign them in. Like I said, if you love 'toons, watch it. <http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/xmlServices/ScheduleServices?methodN ame=mainSchedule> http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/xmlServices/ScheduleServices?methodNa me=mainSchedule "Stargate SG-1" Fridays at 8 pm, Sci Fi Channel In reruns, new season premieres July 15. For years I've pondered the question "how does SG-1 stay on TV when better scifi struggles?" I've always found SG-1 to be a perfectly adequate show. Decent actors, okay- if-predictable scripts, some stereotyped characters (the noble savage person of color), minimalist sets. Not a bad show, just not a *good* one. Like a meal at a fast food joint, filling if not delicious. But here it is enduring to start a ninth season! And at last I can finally get, if not excited, then at least interested in an uptick in the action quotient. Change is sometimes a good thing, and there's been lots of change on SG-1: the end of the Replicators, the triumph of Teal'c's long struggle for freedom, O'Neill moving on, and several other long-running storylines wrapped up. It's made for a pretty interesting season. Maybe fans all along have seen the potential I never saw. Maybe this "scifi lite" appeals to the masses. I don't know, but with the end of old plots (and characters) and the introduction of new blood (Ben Browder, Lexa Doig, Beau Bridges, Lou Gossett, JR), it's one to watch for at least the first few episodes. "Star Trek" it ain't, but dare I hope it at least can take a step up from bland to engaging? http://www.scifi.com/stargate/ "Stargate Atlantis" Fridays at 9 pm, Sci Fi Channel In reruns, new season starts July 15. I keep expecting "Atlantis" to degenerate into "Star Trek Voyager": the tired "lost in space" theme of people struggling nobly against odds, desperately seeking a way home. I've always disliked that theme, and I keep expecting to dislike "Atlantis". Especially as it shows the same uninspired casting that's virtually a clone of SG-1: the befuddled but lovable scientist, the wise-cracking but utterly dependable soldier, the wise and pensive leader, the noble savage of color. But try as I might, I can't dismiss Atlantis, can't hate it. Perhaps it's the city itself, which is admitedly cool. Or maybe I like the Wraith, whose vampiric ways and defeat of the Ancients (!) makes for great potential. Or most likely, it's that some of the stories have seemed, well, more serious than on SG-1. The Atlantis team has made some major enemies out there, and unlike SG-1, they can't retreat to a base with hundreds of soldiers, nor call on a whole planet's military force. Nope, they're struggling with technology they barely comprehend, a city that's at something like one-tenth power, and worlds where the humans have often proved to be as treacherous as the aliens they encounter. This is trully a case of people needing to hold the line against overwhelming odds. The cast seems to be on just a slightly higher level of dramatic intensity than SG-1. Not quite sure what's in the mix, but I've watched every episode so far, some even twice. Again, not like "Trek" at its best, but pretty good. I really hope this one meets its potential. http://www.scifi.com/atlantis/ "Battlestar Galactica" Fridays at 10 pm, Sci Fi Channel Now in rerurns, season 2 starts in July. Yeah, yeah, I know. If you haven't seen it, you're thinking shiny metal dudes droning "By your command!", boring shows that rely too much on FX, and Lorne "Bonanza" Greene as Commander Adama. You're thinking camp villains that sit in high chairs in the dark thinking dark and evil thoughts. You're thinking a scifi-themed show that's really nothing more than a bad nighttime soap. Don't. This is *not* your daddy's "Galactica". The reimagined show (by Star Trek alum Ronald Moore) only retains the name and the basic premise of the original series. Starbuck's a woman now, Boomer is now an Asian lady instead of a Brother, Adama is Latin (well, played by Edward James Olmos, though I don't think he's supposed to be a Latin Galactican). The Cylons now look like humans and have a plan that goes way beyond simple conquest and destruction. Never thought *I'd* say this, but the human-like gang's actually more menacing than their tin-plated forebears. This BG is much darker, much more thought-provoking than the original. Major themes of destiny and predestination, the meaning of life, the existence (and purpose) of God. (No suprise here, as Moore was a major architect of DS9's religious-themed exploration of the Prophets). The gloomy sets, documentary-like camera, and minimalist martial-themed music help paint a mood that's way darker than the '70s series. It all works. A little too much distracting sex for my tastes, but still a great show. Not an easy one to figure, but most people either hate it or love it. I started out with the former, ended up with the latter. Oh--and worth a peep just to see Richard "Apollo" Hatch from the orignal series now playing a terrorist turned politician. Who knew the man could act?! <http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/> http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/ "Desperate Housewives" Sundays at 9 pm, ABC -- Now in reruns. I know it ain't scifi, but what can I say? Murder, mayhem, infidelity, craziness , oversexed women --funniest nighttime soap since "Mary Hartman" and "Soap". I can't justify this one, folks, so let's just let it go as my one guilty pleasure, my giving in to become one of the mindless masses that feeds off the soulless and intellectually empty pablum fed them by the networks. Yum...Tastes pretty good! <http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index.html> http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index.html Note you will *not* see any plugs for "American Idol" (can't sing, no talent), "Top Model" (since when do real life models *have* to pose in open graves or let giant spiders crawl on their faces ?), most of the UPN comedies (shuckin' and jivin' for the 21st Century!) , or any "reality" show. There's enough good stuff still left on TV without rotting your brain with that dreck.
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