Geek Shows Old and New

After months of waiting, the new TV season has finally started. Hooray! Let's celebrate by taking a look at some geeky shows.

[Old] Smallville Season 10

LIZZ: It's Smallville's final season, and it looks like the show's pulling out all the stops. Finally casting off the silly “no tights, no flights” rule, Clark Kent finally flies (or jumps really high?) in time to save the Daily Planet globe falling onto rush hour traffic. This is probably Superman's most iconic imagery, as it's been repeated in the comics and movies dozens of times before. Superman holds the globe on his back as a not-so-subtle metaphor for his carrying the weight of the world. Whew.

Also, we finally get a full-on look at the actual red, blue, and yellow costume. No teaser glimpses or angled shots, this is a good long look at the costume Clark is going to end up wearing on the season finale. It's the same one Brandon Routh wore in Superman Returns so I'm not sure how the tiny S is going to look on barrel-chested Tom Welling, but I'm reserving judgment til I actually see him wearing the damned thing.

A million fanboys jizzed in their pants simultaneously when this came on screen.

Upcoming guest stars include Hawkman in episode two and none other than Supergirl Kara Zor-El for episode three, so this promises to be a must-watch season for all the fans. My only caveat is that it's still called “Smallville” despite the fact that Clark spends all his time in Metropolis. I guess no commute is too far for the Man of Steel.

I give this excellent season premiere a resounding

[New] No Ordinary Family

JOSH: No Ordinary Family is about a suburban family of four that suddenly gained superpowers after surviving a plane crash. In the weeks leading up to the premiere, I had heard it described as something like a live-action version of Pixar's The Incredibles. As a big fan of that movie, I was quite excited.

Well, after watching the first episode, I'm not so excited anymore. Sure, there were a few funny moments, and the special effects were okay for the small screen. But if I have to sum it up in one word, I'd go with "bland." I think the writers made a mistake by focusing too much on the back-story and not enough on the superhero stuff. And frankly, the back-story isn't very interesting. Let's see... the husband feels like a failure, the wife is too busy, the daughter has boy troubles, and the son has a hard time with schoolwork because he's not too bright. Realistic problems? Sure. Compelling drama? Not really.

Still, I would have given this a meh if not for the one TV cliche that I can't stand: the whiny emo teenager, e.g. Claire from Heroes and what's-his-face from V. This show has two of those! Kill me now.

[Old] Star Wars: Clone Wars Season 3

LIZZ: If any series has lost steam since its debut, it's Clone Wars. What
promised to be an interesting look into the war between Episodes 2 and
3 has steadily deteriorated to a mess of episodes dedicated to
fourth-tier characters and random Jedi knight number fourteen. Don't
get me wrong-- Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith were
hardly good movies, but there was quite a bit of backstory that needed
to be told between them. Anakin jumps from emo newlywed to puppet
assassin (who cheerfully lops off Count Dooku's head at the slightest
prodding) in the movies, and I was hoping to get a bit of explanation
for this character progression in the series.

When the first season introduced Asohka, I was quite expecting her
death (or maiming at the very least) to be one of Anakin's major
pushes to the darkside. There were some very interesting plot points
in season two were you can see bits of Darth in Anakin, and I thought
they were really spot-on. But season three kicks off with a story
about random clones in training (wow, you couldn't even kick off the
season with a relevant storyline?), and we don't even see any of the
major players until the second episode. Talk about dullsville!

I've been a retarded Star Wars fan since I was a grade school tot, so
believe me when I say that I've nursed my crush on this universe for
well over a decade. But after reading Tales of the Mos Eisley Cantina
and playing through KOTOR, I think I'm finally able to say that this
series veers too far away from the central characters. Clone Wars
should be about the war and it should focus on the characters we care
about-- George Lucas left plot holes you could drive the Millenium
Falcon through between episodes two and three, so it's up to Clone
Wars to fill the gaps. So far, they haven't really been doing a good
job this season. :P

I give this season a

[New] The Event

JOSH: The Event is supposed to fill the sci-fi drama void left on network TV by the end of Lost and the cancellation of FlashForward (Let's pretend that V doesn't exist).

The trailer above is long enough to give you a sense of what The Event is about, but I just want to add that the show is non-linear storytelling on crack--multiple plotlines, retelling of the story from different points of view, and shameless overuse of flashbacks. Depending on your tastes, that may or may not be a good thing. I personally find the gimmicks unnecessary and annoying, but I must admit that they did generate an artificial sense of excitement for what seems to be a fairly pedestrian plot.

While the first two episodes weren't exceptional, they did entertain me enough for me to want to find out what happens next. And I think that's the most basic criterion for measuring the competence of a serial drama. I give it a mild yes.


Next week, we'll review a bunch of other (less geeky) TV shows. Stay tuned!