Saturday's TV Pick

Tonight, ABCs Family Channel treats us to an Olivia Newton-John double feature. We start our ONJ-fest at 8PM with 1978's Grease. The original "High School Musical," features unforgettable songs, romance, comedy and perhaps the oldest cast to ever play high school students in the history of old people playing high school students. Trivia: Jeff Conaway played Danny Zuko in the Broadway Production of Grease, but ended up playing his best friend Kenicke when John Travolta got the coveted role.

Immediately after Grease, is Olivia's 1980 film Xanadu. Watch this movie for the musical numbers (and only the musical numbers) and you won't be disappointed. Starring Olivia, Jeff Beck and the incomparable Gene Kelly (in his final lead film role), this movie is like, totally 80s! From the top of Olivia's feathered hair to the bottom of her leg warmers, it's a time capsule of the music and fashions from that period. The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) shares soundtrack duties with ONJ and they work together on the musical finale. Other ONJ songs include Magic and Suddenly (duet with Cliff Richards). Trivia: Despite the film's poor box office performance, the soundtrack went to #4 on the Billboard charts. It contained five top 20 singles and went double platinum. Also of note: The film's assistant choreographer, Kenny Ortega would later go on to direct Disney's High School Musical films.

Sci Fi Channel Goes Syfy

What's Syfy? No, it's not a darling nickname for syphilis. It's going to be Sci Fi Channel's new name starting in July. Yes, really. The belief is this new name will help usher in a broader (translation: less pimply male nerd) image for the network which last year posted its highest ratings.

Sci Fi network president, Dave Howe said, "It gives us a unique word and it gives us the opportunities to imbue it with the values and the perception that we want it to have." Uh huh. 

Naturally some fans of science fiction (or is it syence fyction?) may assume the name change is really an attempt to transition away from the genre that put them in the top ten of cable networks in the hopes of attracting a larger and more diverse audience. So I guess that means we can look forward to more awesome non sci-fi fare like ECW (wrestling) and Ghost Hunters. Hooray?

Along with a new moniker, they're also launching a new tag line, "Imagine Greater." According to Mr. Howe, "It's an aspirational, optimistic message about enhancing people's lives." 

Darn, I was hoping it was feedback for the naming team.

Spring TV Preview

New network comedies are sprouting by the bunch this spring. See which of these posies show the most promise in today's webisode.

Glee, May 19th

Better Off Ted, March 18

In The Motherhood, March 26

Project Runway

Is LOST Losing It?

Between the time-jumps, dead ends and red herrings, the labyrinthine story structure of ABC's hit series LOST is simultaneously infuriating and wholly engrossing. I've been hooked on this series since its premier episode in 2004, and I've always feared the (inevitable?) day when LOST "jumps the shark."  Not for the first time, something is telling me this has already happened. 

Season 5 started with more action and urgency in the storytelling than we've been used to and it added an extra nail-biting dimension that made me wish the series had always been like this. In short, six of "The Island's" castaways made their way home to civilization only to discover that they must all go back to save those they left behind. With a window of only 36 hours, the survivors, scattered to the four winds, must reunite, get on a plane and hope to hell it crashes back on the island. But even before they get on the plane, something strange happens.

Now I don't mean something strange happens to the characters (because something strange ALWAYS happens to the characters), I mean something happens to the show. It... slows... down. It... feels... different. And... it... scares... me. Suddenly they're explaining things (something we've been asking for) and veils of mystery are being lifted from the island. The problem is, I need the mystery, I need to be kept in the dark. Trying to decode the cypher that is the mystery of LOST is what keeps me watching every week and jabbering like a madman at the water cooler every Thursday morning. For the last three weeks, my fellow LOST-watchers and I have simply said, "Did you watch LOST? Yeah, it was pretty good." Just a few weeks earlier I was scribbling timeline theories on notepads and arguing temporal causality. 

So as much as I thought I wanted answers, it turns out I don't. I don't want to watch "good" episodes. I want to go back to screaming "what the hell just happened?!?" at the screen and scouring the internet for answers, rumors and subversive theories. Part of me is afraid that the producers (in giving the audience what we asked for) have taken away what we need. But then, the other part of me is saying, just wait. They're only lulling you into a false sense of security and then WHAM, once again I'll be dazed, confused and screaming "what the hell just happened?!?"

At least, I hope so.

Update (3/21/09): Oh tra-la! As hoped, last week's episode, "Namaste" calmed my fears and got me all excited about the rest of this season. It was tense, action packed and full of unpredictable twists and turns. Can't wait for next week's show!

LOST Schedule & Full Episodes

Martha Stewart Gets Served

Martha, are you out of your cotton-pickin' mind? As much as I love Martha Stewart, I've found myself yelling that at the screen on more than one occasion. I mean it's one thing to show me the best way to make coq au vin or arrange a vase of flowers, but her 32-step method for folding a sheet was more than I could bear. And now I know I'm not alone. 

Martha's daughter Alexis and her friend Jennifer Koppelman Hutt have been given the keys to Martha's episode vault and license to mercilessly rip into old segments of Martha Stewart Living. Their show, Whatever Martha (on FLN), pokes fun at Martha's choice of wardrobe, obsessive housekeeping habits and (unfairly) her guest stars. It's fun to see these old Martha segments (was 1993 really that long ago?) but a big part of the fun is watching Alexis vent her frustration at being raised by America's most famous fussbudget. It's not only entertaining, it serves a reminder not to give my kids copies of the home movies and their own show.

Whatever Martha, Fine Living Network, Wednesdays 9PM e/p

The Webisode Webisode

Children's Hospital

Tiki Bar TV

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Farscape

Another Bryan Fuller Show is (now literally) Pushing Daisies

Sometimes it's hard being a TV lover. A charming new show catches your eye. You start to fall for it and suddenly it changes time slots. So you swallow your pride and follow it like a lovesick schoolgirl. It goes on hiatus. So you wait. And wait. Finally it comes back and you think you'll be together forever when the network suits pull the rug right out from under you. Men!

Just like some good-for-nothing dog of a man that keeps knocking on your door at 2am, Bryan Fuller keeps coming back to break, my TV-lovin' heart. First, the creator/writer/producer's creative, quirky and dark Dead Like Me was canceled after only two seasons. Then his funny, quirky and romantic Wonderfalls is canceled after only 4 episodes on trigger-happy FOX. Most recently, the equally funny, quirky and romantic Pushing Daisies gets axed by ABC. What is it about network executives that they keep getting in the way of true love?

As you can tell, when I find a funny, quirky and romantic show, I fall hard. 

Fortunately for Wonderfalls, they knew the cancelation was on its way, so the producers had the opportunity to finish 13 episodes and wrap up the romantic story arc to a satisfying conclusion. If you haven't seen this show, the entire series is available on DVD. Meanwhile, poor Pushing Daisies was taken from us half way through its second season. We can only hope that Bryan can swing a Pushing Daisies movie, comic book or interpretive dance to wrap up the story and give us a little closure. Until then I'll just have to pour over the episodes like love letters in a shoebox.

Of course, like the TV doormat that I am, as soon as Bryan Fuller makes another funny, quirky and romantic show, I'll be there (fool that I am) to watch it.

Bryan Fuller Shows on Amazon

Dead Like Me: Available on DVD

Wonderfalls: Available on DVD

Pushing Daisies: Season 1 Available on DVD