TV Newsy Bits - Wednesday, November 14, 2007

I see the train a'comin', it's rolling 'round the bend. I haven't seen the sunshine since I don't know when. (My apologies to Johnny Cash for appropriating "Folsom Prison Blues.") But, you know how it is. After all, I shot a man in Reno just to see him die.

Or not.

I took the photo of the NJ Transit train arriving at the Plainfield Train Station.

I apologize for being a bit away yesterday and today (although I'm here now). Here are today's TV Newsy Bits and I'll be catching up on emails and comments when I can get to them:

• TV Squad has several of my articles online including my Kid Nation review, a list of how different shows are affected by the writers strike, reality shows planned, and some other stuff.
• People magazine's sexiest man list is out. Hmmm... Matt Damon? Not bad, but sexiest? Hmmm...
• Ellen DeGeneres won't be coming to New York City after all.
• And, for Grey's Anatomy fans -- Ellen Pompeo got married.
  

I'm sorry (apologizing a lot tonight, aren't I?) to leave this a bit short, but unfortunately I have an ill cat here who needs my attention. Sigh.

'Heroes' - "Four Months Ago"

Tonight they promised us answers about what happened between the seasons. And, they actually did. Of course, as with Lost, now I have some new questions. But I knew that Bob was a bad, bad man. I knew it!

Here's the lowdown skinny ...
Everything hinged on the ability to remember the past, a quality only found in humans. Well, that's what Mohinder Suresh's narrative told us, anyway.

Here's what happened to DL, Micah, and Niki/Jessica:
The bullet we saw last season didn't kill DL. He actually got a job as a fireman and became a true-life normal kind of hero. He did until Niki went all Jessica, locking Niki in the mirror to run off to Los Angeles, that is.

But before that happened, Niki met Bob Bad Man in the hospital as DL recovered from his wound. Bob knew about her powers and offered to cure her so she would never hurt anyone again. He mentioned that the papers had nothing about what had happened at Kirby Plaza, nor the Linderman death. He wanted to help her because Jessica's not gone, blah-blah-blah.

She agreed to take medication at home as she didn't want to go in for treatment. On her first day of a new job as a car saleswoman, Jessica took over and ran off to Los Angeles. DL went to find her and got shot as he offended her new lustmate on the dance floor. Now, that killed him.

She left Micah with his grandmother and cousins, Monica and Damon, to go for treatment with dear Bad Bob. At the end of tonight's episode, in present day, she left the Company supposedly cured.

What happened with the Wonder Twins:
Maya and Alejandro were "normal" at his wedding. Maya, not really so normal as she was vehemently against the marriage. She caught the bride having sex with another man at the wedding (no less). Her black bleeding eyes bit began and she not only killed the bride and her sex mate, but the entire wedding party!

She tried to hide out in a church, even away from her brother -- the only one who didn't die in the party of hundreds. He found her in the church and turned her in "for her own good." She did the eye thing again, he calmed her holding her hands and they were last seen with a watch repairman named Gabriel (Sylar) near the US border.

I still don't like them. She killed so many, make her go away.

What happened after Kirby Plaza:
As Nathan and Peter flew away from the Plaza, Peter insisted that Nathan let him go. Peter was nuking out and Nathan was starting to burn. Nathan can fly, but he doesn't burn well, not at all.

Nathan ended up in the hospital in very bad shape. He told his wife about flying and all. Then Mrs. Petrelli told her that he was suffering delusions and they had a deep dark secret in the family's past with delusions and suicide. She better run, Mrs. P said. Maybe she didn't put it quite that way, but ...!

They all assumed Peter exploded and died. But Peter had brought Nathan into the hospital in the first place and was himself healing when ...

Peter, Adam, Elle, Bob, the Haitian, and the Company:
... Elle, with Bad Man Bob (Dad?) at her side, zapped Peter and they took him captive at the Company, telling him they want to cure him. They claimed that he needed to be cured before he hurt anyone else.

In the cell er, ... room, next to him was a man named Adam. Adam had been there for thirty years awaiting his cure. And, yes, it's that Adam, Kensei Adam. Bob or Elle gave Peter doses of what they called the Haitian pills to make him forget his powers or render him useless. The Haitian was there, working for Bob.

Elle likes to be all over Peter. It turns out she doesn't get out much. She has that fingertip zap thing going on -- burnt down her grandmother's house when she was six, caused a major blackout when she was eight. The doctors called her a sociopath. So, it appears the Company has had her for years.

Adam kept working on Peter to remember, to not take the meds. He told him it was a prison and they were just going to keep him, not cure him. Adam also told him that his (Adam's) blood could cure Nathan's burns because he has the healing factor.

Finally, he broke through to Peter and they both escaped. They went to the hospital where Adam's blood did indeed do the trick and Nathan started healing right before their eyes. But they had to get out of there quick as they were surely followed.

And, they were. They split up with Adam telling Peter to meet him at the warehouse in Montreal and they would save the world.

Elle set Peter afire, but then chased after Adam. She had the Haitian chase Peter. He caught him, but instead of bringing him back, he decided it was better for Peter to escape the Company and start a new life. He handcuffed him inside an outgoing cargo car and did the Vulcan Mind Meld ... er, no ... that's the Haitian Memory Melt, I think.

And, back to present -- Adam and Peter met in the warehouse. Adam jolted his memory back.

So, are you ready to save the world?

'The Amazing Race 12' East Coast Update - 11/11

The show has started on the East Coast. Return for updates as they air! (And visit comments, too.) My full review of the show is at this link.

The teams are on the way to Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Pit Stop Arrival --
1. Lorena and Jason
2. Nathan and Jennifer
3. Shana and Jennifer
4. Kynt and Vyxsin
5. Azaria and Hendekea
6. TK and Rachel
7. Julia and Marianna
8. Nicolas and Donald
9. Ron and Christina
10. Eliminated -- Pat and Kate

TV Newsy Bits - Sunday, November 11, 2007

I mentioned I wanted a black t-shirt with white letters "Writer" like the striking WGA writers and graphic artist Zoetawny got straight to work on getting me one. She included the blog and even the little TV Squad logo! How cool is that? Thanks, Zoetawny!

It's Veterans Day. Although I tend to think there must be other ways instead of wars, I salute those who have served risking their lives for our country.

Tonight is the second episode of The Amazing Race 12 and it looks like it will start on time here in the NYC viewing area. I'll be writing up the full review to be posted at TV Squad later tonight, but will start up an East Coast Update post to report big events on the show, including the eliminated team. I'll have that started around 8 PM ET -- please stop by and share your thoughts on the show!

Random thoughts going through my mind on an early Sunday evening:

1. Sometimes strangers on a train should remain strangers on a train for the good of those around them.
2. Just because I nod and say hello as I pass you on the sidewalk doesn't mean you can ask me for money or cigarettes.
3. Construction workers have cool radio-controlled earth-squashing machinery at their disposal these days. Wow! It looks like such fun! I chose the wrong career.
4. Why are newscasters standing so much these days? They never seem to know what to do with their hands. What's up with that?
5. Why does my cat think every time I go into the kitchen that I'm going to give him more food or treats?

Onto today's TV Newsy Bits:

• The WGA strike continues. I'm glad I tend to focus my writing around reality television for the most part.
• Conan O'Brien's priest stalker has been hospitalized. The police were told there were concerns about his mental stability. Now, I watched a few news clips of him. That is one odd priest -- he just kept smiling. If I were arrested, humiliated, and the object of disdain by the public, I'd crawl under a rock. I wouldn't just keep smiling a rather deranged smile.
• The stagehands on Broadway are still on strike. Fitting the situation, the first show affected was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Also affected was Duran Duran and any shows staffed by that particular union.
  

Today's music non-sequitur:

They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway
They say there's always magic in the air
But when you're walkin' down that street
And you ain't had enough to eat
The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere.

-- "Broadway" as sung by George Benson

TV Newsy Bits - Saturday, November 10, 2007

I took this photo in midtown Manhattan (NYC, not Kansas) in the evening as drizzle hit the streets. I didn't see any cats atop the buildings.

MY review of last night's The Next Great American Band is up and running over at TV Squad.

In other TV Newsy Bits:

• Not TV news per se, but sort of related in the entertainment arena -- Broadway shows will be going dark today as the stagehands go out on strike. It won't affect me as I didn't plan to go see any Broadway shows. What I'd like to see which is going on now at Madison Square Garden is Cirque du Soleil even though critics are panning Wintuk.
• Author Norman Mailer died, again not television, but certainly related to film!
• Ellen DeGeneres is getting a lot of heat for carrying on with her show despite the writers strike. I can understand some of her points, but I don't think it's a good move for her to make when most of Hollywood is in solidarity with the strikers.

Today's music non-sequitur:

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear

And it shows them pearly white

Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe

And he keeps it … ah … out of sight.

-- "Mack the Knife" as sung by Bobby Darin