L-O-S-T Season Prep: Lindelof as Fanboy

Frank sent along this article from io9 in prep for Lost this season:

Being A Fanboy Helps In Damon Lindelof's World

There's a reason that Lost's Nikki and Paulo died so quickly after fans refused to accept their insertion into ABC's time-traveling/teleporting island drama, according to show co-creator Damon Lindelof: The writers felt exactly the same way that the fans did, only earlier. The reason for that? The writers are the fans, apparently.

Lindelof explained how the writers' room can act as a petrie dish for their audience:

We're writing a television show that's supposed to be consumed by the masses. In the same way that a gladiator in the Roman arena lived or died based on whether or not he was entertaining, we feel like an instantaneous thumbs up, thumbs down response is huge for us. More importantly, the majority of the writers on Lost are fanboys. There's a ripple effect that occurs where we say, "Nikki and Paolo are not working. We don't like them, the audience isn't going to like them." By the time the audience starts complaining about Nikki and Paolo, we've already written a script where they get buried alive.

Not that this means that the fans will always get their way, he warned. After all, there is a plan at work: "The uber-mythology has to stay the same because there's stuff we've set up that has to pay off," he explains... although even that plan can change:

In our minds, Mr. Eko was going to be a character who made it to close to the end of the show, but because Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was so unhappy being on the show, we had to say, "Alright, life intervenes. Who else can we tell the story with? Can we re-jigger Locke to have it be him, or can we make Benjamin Linus a little bit more of a man of faith?" You adapt the characters as you go.

Also, when someone gets a DUI, their character has to die as punishment. It's the law in Hawaii, apparently.

Samurai Girl: "Infant Girl Survives Tragedy...

....to be adopted by a powerful man." Turns out our 19-year old heroine named Heaven is that girl of prophecy...they do a good job of myth building with this story.

On a side note, ABC Family is doing a couple shows I like right now. I really like The Middleman (the Nakatomi Protocol episode was my favorite- I got a kick out of seeing the Bruce Willis references.) I also watch The Secret Life of the American Teenager...mostly because I was dying to see Molly Ringwald, but all stereotype-embracing aside, it really is a sweet little show.

Back to Samurai Girl, these are 3 two-hour graphic-novel style vignettes, I assume in preparation for a running tv show. I liked them. Yes, though there are no vampires, they sort of steal from Buffy, Blade (location of their hq) and maybe a little Kung Fu mixed in together (after all they embrace the comparison when her friend calls her Grasshopper).  But those are all good things and the show does them well.

Heaven's brother's best friend is conveniently both a matial arts sensei as well as the brooding hot guy love interest. Heaven has two good friends she stumbled on who have her back too. There is ADD Cheryl who likes a little bit of everything and is Heaven's gal pal. Then there's Otto, the dufus comic book/sci fi movie loving/video game playing computer whiz who has a huge crush on Heaven. Otto reminds me of Spinelli on GH. I'm wondering if some of the writers are cross-overs from that ABC soap. Hmmmm. I guess not, but he did work on an episode of October Road and the Otto/slipper-wearing side of him does remind me somewhat of Physical Phil on October Road. His internet/tech prowess is certainly convenient, regardless.

Best about this show is that an empowered young woman is taking control of her life. What makes it even better are some of the Kill Bill-esque sword fights (another nod to David  Carradine!)

If it is a series ever, and any of what I'm talking about here interests you, I have no reservations about telling you to watch. The teaser episodes portend a solid show.

Good Luck Chuck: I Want a New Drug

I watched Good Luck Chuck last night. Underwhelmed is perhaps an understatement. Don't waste your time. The only thing I got out of this movie is that Dane Cook looks like Huey Lewis...in a sometimes creepy way. I want a new drug if I'm ever forced to watch this thing again.

Uncle Kenny Passes Away...

So, on the 4th of September, my Uncle Kenny passed away... technically, I think he is my great Uncle as he is my father's Uncle. He is married to my Great Aunt Lou who was the younger sister to my Grandmother... Leah. I know he wasn't in the best of health in recent years, but he was such a good person that everyone who knew him loved him. I know he will be sorely missed. My Dad's cousins and all their kids and grandkids will all miss him as will everyone in his extended family and all the people who loved him down at the condo.

A cool thing about Uncle Kenny that not many people know about? He was a town doctor in Indiana, Pennsylvania and so took care of Jimmy Stewart's father when he wasn't doing well. Jimmy Stewart personally called and came to see him on several occasions to check on him.

Big hugs to the family and an especially big hug to Aunt Lou...I'm so sorry for your loss.

Review: Cullen Is No Lestat: Twillight Series

So, I've read the Stephenie Meyer Twillight series recently, and I've now dubbed it to my friends as "Anne Rice Lite". Let's just say that he might be younger in vampire years, but Edward Cullen is no Lestat. All in all I thought the series was cute. Not that the term "cute" is always a good thing, but these were cute in a good way. I think that if I were a 10-14 year old girl, I might even be ga-ga for Edward Cullen, but I'm not and I'm not ga-ga for him now. I'm just bored. Here's my take on the Twillight Series, but don't read unless you're perfectly willing to read some spoilers:

Twillight (Book 1) : Okay, I get it, we meet the Cullens, the book takes a while to figure out a reason for the family's strange behavior. Bella, the teenage girl who is completely adult and independent is our heroine. She moves to the unsunny Northwest and takes care (cleans/cooks) for her father, the bumbling distant (but, still caring) sheriff in town. She and Edward begin their journey together. I see the appeal and I'm curious enough to come back for more. I'm most interested in the Tribe and how the local native americans have physically reacted to the "unnatural" presences of vamps. Also cool? Vampire Baseball is a fab and fun idea.

New Moon (Book 2): So, here is where it loses me on the Edward and Bella romance. They fall for each other awfully fast. He leaves to protect her and she collapses and spends the rest of the book trying to figure out how to move on with her life. For me, I thought that for a strong independent young woman who had been "the adult" in her relationship with her mother to all of a sudden fall so desperately in love that she would stop eating and collapse in the wilderness was a stretch. She seems so wildly practical that the teenage drama of reacting like that just didn't fit at all for me. Where she finds when he runs to be away from her probably death was the best part. Well, that and Jacob... who starts in this book to be endearing but grows in later books to be a great character.

Eclipse (Book 3) : This was my least favorite of the four books. I thought there was a lot of set up, that Bells spent a lot of time worrying, and that I wasn't ever under the impression that the Cullens would lose their battle to protect her. Jacob makes much more sense to me for her and I love his character development here. I guess I'm a Jacob and Bella fan.

Breaking Dawn (Book 4) : This was my favorite of the four books. A real Dracula, a corrupt "government", breaking the rules.... and Bella gets to become a real mate for Edward. Now she's a real 17-year old grown-up... forever. The baby was kind of creepy and I can't say that I enjoyed her name at all... but all in all, if they're going to be in love and fight for one another... this is the way I prefer to see it done.

In the end, I have to say I give them a solid C+ as a whole. I mean that as a good C+ because I was engaged enough to read all four books, I was engaged enough to keep reading and I was engaged enough to really really like some parts of the books. However, in the end I was a little disappointed. I kept hearing rants and raves about these as the next "Harry Potter" so I had fairly high expectations. But if you want a story that skims the edges of emotion and romanticism that Anne Rice still owns, you'll enjoy. I will say that I am a Joss Whedon fan so I really enjoyed Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan as well as an Angel, but I thought those relationships matured from flirty, eyelash-batting romances to deep and true love romances. Here, he looks at her goofy, hangs around a little and bam... she's in love. I was a teenage girl once (and still act like it when I can) and to Bella and Edward? I just don't relate. I've liked bad boys before and I think I would have liked this better if he was more of a bad boy. Just being a vampire alone doesn't fit the bill, if he isn't bad... then he's just a goody-two-shoes, and *yawn* that doesn't do it for me. Sorry.

I haven't read any Charlaine Harris (though I am excited to see True Blood on HBO), nor have I read any Laurell K Hamilton, but I get the impression that those vampire series are intended to be more campy than the serious nature of the vampire that has lived for generations. My friend Chris Golden-personal trainer extraordinaire-is pals with Rachel Caine and he says her Morganville Vampire books are really good. I'll be checking those out soon.

I am stoked to see the movie Twillight though, I think that Robert Pattinson is the perfect guy to play Edward.

New 90210 Premiere: Back to Where We Were

After a long game in which the Cubbies lost to Houston (boo!) I am about an hour into the new 90210 and already it is proving to be a sticky sweet bundle of fun that matches the old one...this week's lesson? Taking responsibility for your actions.

First of all, outside of the obvious guest appearance by Jennie Garth, they do a nice job of giving a nod to the old show. A Zuckerman ("What is she? 30?") does the news in a shout out to Andrea. Jennie Garth's Kelly gets a reference to her polka dot spandex leggings. And Brenda is in town for a month so we can look forward to seeing her for a while. Lastly, for continuity's sake, Nat and the Peach Pit are back as a meeting place for all the kids.

Let's start with the midwest transplants:
ANNIE is BRENDA
DIXON is BRANDON
But not twins, Dixon is adopted...though they do have an unerring sense of what is right and wrong that they must have picked up in Kansas)

ETHAN is DYLAN (troubled boy who gets inspired to be a better man by Annie, no motorcycle though-yet)
GEORGE is STEVE (a-hole who you can expect to have a heart after he loses his alpha male testosterone angles)
NAOMI is KELLY (remember? She did start out as a Hollywood byotch, turns out she is hard as nails to cover a mushy marshmallow inside.)
NAVID is DAVID SILVER (the goofy kid who has mad skills as something creative, oh except this new one has a porn producer dad)
ADRIANNA is ANDREA (overachiever already hooked on drugs, from the wrong side of the tracks but this one is an actress not a. star student)
SILVER is TORI and she is the heart of the show like Tori was the conscience of the first show except Silver can swim with the sharks- (oh and she is Kelly's little sister.)

Now we get to the adults. Mom played by Lori Laughlin is a true Kansas girl grounding the dad played by Rob Estes-who is returning to his 90210 roots as principal of West Beverly. She'll need to be there for him since he just found out he has a son with Naomi's mom...an old hs girlfriend who gave their high school baby up for adoption. (Is Palen's daughteer watching?)

Also interesting is the ruggedly handsome and witty English teacher and lacrosse coach who is a love interest for Kelly (who also has a 4 1/2 year old son--whose baby is that?)

Lastly and perhaps my favorite part of the show is the grandmother...the booze-swilling old Hollywood diva the Wilson clan has moved to LA to support from Witchita. She delights in telling hysterical stories about the old days...like Riccardo Montalbon cracking an egg on her ass. As a girl from central PA, I always liked the idea that the 90210 peeps were in HOLLYWOOD but the old show stayed away from the white elephant in the room. This character for me is a true nod to the famous zip code.

Thumbs up...let's just hope that the show continues its fun kitchy start that we all loved about the show to begin with.

Superior Donuts, an Immaculate Reception

So, I went to see Superior Donuts, at Steppenwolf last night with my friend Dana. Let me just say that the play was great and if you have a chance to go see it anywhere, you should go. Written by Steppenwolf ensemble member, Tracy Letts (also one of my FAVORITES on the Chicago theater scene,) the play told the tale of a small shop on Chicago North Side neighborhood, Uptown. Hippy Arthur P (played by Michael McKean) hires a young black man, Franco Wicks (named not like Generalisimo but instead like Franco Harris of Immaculate Reception, Pittsburgh Steelers fame) to work in the shop with him and their friendship centers the play for the cast of the culturally diverse neighborhood that stops to chat.

I haven't ever really talked about the theater, but let me just say this, Steppenwolf, even when I don't particularly like a play, always does a good job of putting their best foot forward with everything they do. I typically expect a pretty intense experience there, and this is one of the few that had me laughing. Tracy Letts' script is pure gold for Chicago audiences and I truly believe that it would translate for audiences in other areas of the country as well. The cast was excellent. My only criticism was the sad fight scene. But, it was supposed to be sad in a way too, so somehow even that worked. If you can, go see it, thank me later.