Wooglie's Thoughts

Watched the first episode of the fourth and final series of Battlestar Galactica over the weekend. The writers have promised that this series will answer some of the questions and provide a fitting end to the series. I think this is one of the best science fiction TV series this decade even considering that a few of the middle episodes of series three were quite poor. The last three of four episodes of series three were amazing, particularly the final episode. The constant question of who the other Cylons are as well as the underlying spiritual threads, continue in this episode and it looks like the series could improve on the last one.

I watched this TV adaption of Terry Pratchett’s book The Colour of Magic over the Easter weekend and I have to say I liked it. As with any adaption of such a popular author and series of books you are going to have ideas of what the characters look and sound like, but if you can get past this you can really enjoy this. The adaption had a star-studded cast with David Jason and Sean Astin playing the main characters of Rincewind and Twoflower, with Tim Curry, Jeremy Irons and Christopher Lee all making an appearance (well Christopher Lee was actually the voice of Death, but you know what I mean) I really enjoyed this and hope they many more.

Not much more I can say really.

Most people reading this probably won’t have heard of this series due to the fact that it hasn’t been shown on TV yet. Sanctuary is unique in that it is being released over the internet only, but is actually being filmed by a proper company and has actors in it you have heard of. Sanctuary is a sci-fi/fantasy story about Dr. Helen Magnus, played by Amanda Tapping of Stargate SG-1 fame, who seeks to help and study weird monsters and creatures. They’ve obviously done their homework as a lot of sci-fi and fantasy fans are computer geeks as well. You can watch the episodes for free a couple of weeks after they are released on youtube and the like, but I have downloaded the HD quality version of the episodes. They work out quite reasonable with the current US exchange rate.

I’ve been getting into a few new series recently, so I thought i’d write a post about them. First up we have Dexter, the unique story about a police forensics expert who is actually a serial killer, who goes around killing murderers who have escaped justice. I had heard lots of glowing reviews so watched the first couple of episodes and was hooked. You actually find yourself rooting for Dexter and the few times he comes close to being discovered you are actually hoping that he manages to get out of it. Whether this is a good thing or not I don’t know, but makes for very compelling viewing.

I’ve recently started watching this American TV show. It’s a very funny show based loosely on Chris Rock‘s experiences growing up in the eighties. All of his family are hilarious especially the interaction between the Mum and Dad. Also the show has a very funky eighties soundtrack and if you grew up during even a part of the eighties you will find yourself humming along to lots of the tracks. I’m not entirely sure when it is shown on TV, but I’m sure it’s being shown somewhere so I’d recommend you track it down.

I don’t usually like posting things from YouTube, but this is a great advert:

I’d seen a couple of episodes of the first season of this comedy on TV, but recently I’d started watching it from the beginning and I have to say this is hilarious television. The story is based around small time thief Earl (can you see where they came up with the witty title?) who gets hit by a car, moments after winning $100,000 on a scratch card. He then has to watch the card float away. While in hospital he decides that he should put right all the things he has done wrong. He writes a list of all the things he’s done wrong and each episode is about him trying to cross something of the list. He’s helped along by his dim witted brother and various other characters. This is American sitcom at its very best and if you haven’t seen an episode I’d recommend you do.

This show is currently in its third season and another that I eagerly await the next episode of. The show is a bit of “teen” show, but it is clever enough and funny enough to appeal to adults as well. The show is based around an only daughter being raised by her Dad who is a private detective. Veronica ends up helping her Dad out on cases as well as helping out her friends at school. It sounds a bit cheesy, but the script writing is excellent, you can’t help but laugh at some of the episodes. You also tend to warm to the central characters and lots of the more pivotal episodes can really make you empathise with them. As I seem to be doing a lot of lately, go and watch an episode or two and get the first season on DVD.