Monday, August 15, 2005

The 4400 in 'Lockdown'; Plus It's TV on DVD Monday!!

Welcome back everyone! I'm well rested and ready to start my first full week of blogging, so let's dig right in.

I hope everyone is watching the intriguing second season of the USA mini-series turned supernatural drama The 4400. I had my reservations after seeing the gripping and fascinating first "season" (I say "season" because USA planned on releasing the show as a mini-series, but after its smashing ratings run last summer, extended it). I mean, how could the show continue when the big secret (just who are the 4400 and why were they taken?) was revealed in the final episode last summer? By continuing to hit us with interesting, emotional, and enthralling story lines. I like the way the show has spent some episodes focusing on different 4400s and how they are adjusting to their lives with their special abilities. I loved the teacher who gave each of her students a unique talent, and the man who cured obesity only to learn the painful side effects. All memorable and all unique.

The two episodes that have stood out for me are "Life interrupted" where Tom found himself in an alternate reality in order to meet and fall in love with Alana (just loved the ending with Lifehouse's You and Me) and last night's episode "Lockdown." Although it has been done before, I really liked the opening scene that found Tom and Diana face to face and gun to gun. It grabbed me right away, and I just had to know what led up to that confrontation. Of course after the opening song and a short commercial break, we were taken back to earlier that same day. Turns out, one of the 4400 sent a deafening noise throughout the NTAC headquarters with her cell phone in some sort of pay back for Jordan Collier's death (she believed that NTAC dropped the ball on that one). The noise caused all of the men to operate on an extremely short fuse. After NTAC was locked down, the men turned on each other. Diana had Maia in for a doctor's visit because she wasn't feeling very well and she had a strange circular rash on her arm. Holed up in a gymnasium, Diana defended herself and the other women when Tom came crashing in gun blazing. Luckily, a quick thinking doctor (guest star Tom Verica from the dearly departed American Dreams) intervened and Diana smacked Tom across the face with a 9 mm! Never a dull moment. The ending left us hanging as we discovered that Shawn can no longer heal, and he's sporting the same circular rash as Maia! There are only two episodes to go, and I have the unsettling feeling that the finale is going to leave us hanging.

QUICK CUTS

* The cast of the upcoming season of CBS's Survivor was announced last week on The Early Show. Included among the castaways is a zookeeper, ex-NFL quaterback, hotel doorman, and magician's assistant. You can catch all sixteen contestants when the show premieres September 15th.

* CBS decided to move King of Queens back to Monday nights after a two year run on Wednesday nights. The show will anchor the network's Monday comedy block starting September 19th at 8 p.m.

* Ellen Degeneres returns as host of the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Degeneres last hosted the awards during the delayed telecast following the September 11th attacks in 2001. You can see Ellen in all her funny glory when the Emmys air September 18th on CBS.

* Balthazar Getty is joining the cast of Alias this coming season. According to the ABC press release posted on The Futon Critic, he'll play an agent with a lot of deep cover experience who joins Syd and her team at APO.

* Finally, here's a rundown of the shows coming to DVD this week. The third season of The Andy Griffith Show, the fifth season of I Love Lucy, the first season of the U.S. version of The Office, the sixth season of The Simpsons, and the fourth season of Will & Grace are among the DVD sets to hit shelves tomorrow (8/16). For a complete list, visit tvshowsondvd.com.

That's all for today. Be sure to tune in tomorrow as we discuss the new season's scheduling conflicts (thank goodness for TiVo and VCRs!!), scoop on CSI's new season, and all the latest TV news.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Glad to see you back, TV! Thanks for your notes on my OD. Very appreciated, always ;). How do you manage to catch up on TV shows so fast? I'm afraid I've never seen the 4400; they just began showing it here on national channels, but dubbed (yuck!!!!). So I don't think I'll be watching it. Not till I can get it in English at least.