The Wyrd Sisters

Laura Hayden here again, asking, "What's on Your TiVO?" Summertime can be a pain to the dedicated TV watcher, but this summer, USANetwork and SciFi have lifted me from the doldrums of summer reruns with some pretty good new shows. Of course, STARGATE SG-1 and STARGATE ATLANTIS are all new episodes, including the eclectic 200th episode of SG-1 featuring a follow-up of "Wormhole: Extreme," the 100th episode. The vignettes were fun, albeit somewhat disjointed. My favorite vignette was the FARSCAPE one. I read that Ben Browder was scheduled to reprise his role as Crichton, but that at the last minute, he and Michael Shanks cooked up a role switch, proving Vala's theory that humans do have a limited but interesting gene pool. My least favorite vignette was the over-long "Thunderbirds" marionette parody. Its only saving grace was the vocal apperance of Don S. Davis and the whole "no-strings" gag. We needed more General Jack O'Neill, but who doesn't?

Other new shows I'm liking are EUREKA and PSYCH. I'd worried that EUREKA was going to be a one-note gadget show, but I've been very pleased with the rich characterizations and some really great guest casting. Any show that has included Maury Chaykin, Saul Rubinak, and Tamlyn Tomita has great potential. (Maury and Saul both played key guest roles on SG-1, too!) I think Joe Morton is fantastic and am wondering why Matt Frewer has been less pivotal that I expected. (Max Headroom--pushed to the back of a show? I think not!)


PSYCH is starting to wear a little thin because Shawn, funny as he is, is growing less sympathetic, despite his attempts to please his father. I'm still willing to give it more time, especially with the upcoming science fiction con episode upcoming. (I ran into George Takei once at a con-- literally stepped out of my hotel room and plowed right into him--my face BOOM! into his chest. He was quite the gentleman, making sure I hadn't been hurt. Nice guy.) One thing I want to point out: look for the instances of green in the show. It's a theme color and you'll see it in the most interesting places--costumes, sets, etc. I'm also getting a kick out of watching the Chief get bigger and bigger in her pregnancy. Nice touch.


What else is on my TiVO? I'm catching up with VERONICA MARS because it was recommended to me by another author who is as crazy about TV as I am. (Thanks, Bob. You're right, it's good.) I'm also catching up with SMALLVILLE and BONES (love that David Boreanaz, as well as viewing new episodes of THE 4400 and DEAD ZONE. I always catch two hours of ANGEL every weeknight and WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? (US) whenever possible. My savied shows include the last episode of ENTERPRISE (sniff) and the season finale of DOCTOR WHO (Yeah SciFI for picking up season two!)

And that's what's on my TiVO. What about yours?