Sorry, SMG, But You Look Better Staking Vampires

I tried to give Ringer a fair chance, because it is Sarah Michelle Gellar's return to TV. It's an interesting idea: a story of twin sisters reunited after a long estrangement, one apparently disappears, and the other takes her place to hide from a gangster who wants to kill her; the problem is apparently the other twin made a lot of enemies and was also awful to her husband and stepdaughter.

If it was just about that, I might stick around, but it looks like the show is stuck on Bridget (the god twin by comparison) getting surprised by how awful Siobhan (the bad twin) really was. She learns Shiv had an affair with her best friend's husband, and even talked about killing said best friend. She has a strained relationship with her husband, while her stepdaughter points out Siobhan stole hubby from his first wife. We also find out Siobhan made a lot of enemies, including one that may want to kill her.

All the while, Siobhan is scheming somewhere in Paris. She apparently wants to kill Bridget, who everyone thinks is Siobhan, and start a new life. Thing is, she's pregnant, but the show doesn't think that's important because it hasn't been mentioned since episode three. Bridget has the problem of faking Siobhan's pregnancy, and some of us think that Bridget is pregnant..but isn't.

Also, we have the worst FBI agent in the history of moving pictures. One day, Nestor Carbonell has to explain how he could play an FBI agent so inept. He can blame the writing, and he'd be right. Agent Machado not only can't tell the difference between Siobhan and Bridget, but in his search for Bridget to put away Gangster Guy, he never thinks to talk to the husband. See, Andrew, the husband, thinks Siobhan is an only child. Everyone did, until Gemma (the best friend) suddenly noticed "Shiv" didn't have that cooking scar. Moot point, since Gemma is dead or kidnapped, thanks to Siobhan, who is above it all and convinced no one will ever figure it out. That last plot point convinced me that there's no point in sticking around.

I like Sarah Michelle Gellar when she is taking charge, not scared out of her wits tyring to fake being someone else, and finding out awkwardly how awful her sister was. Maybe she figures she's part of a plan where she dies for her sister's sins, while Bad Twin has a new life as Cora Farrell. Add the fact that Siobhan is smarter than everyone else including incompetent law enforcement.

Compare this to ABC Family's The Lying Game, about long-separated twins who trade lives, but one of them doesn't come back because she's looking for their birth mother. At least the Rich Twin gets mistaken for the other twin, and she has to deal with the consequences. The only thing that would get me interested in Ringer is if Siobhan is mistaken for Bridget, and she has to live HER life for a while. Otherwise, waiting for Bridget to be mistakenly killed has lost its charm. There's also a plotline where Juliet the stepdaughter is having problems in a public high school, and a younger teacher played by Jason Dohring is the only one on her side. Since this is the CW, Juliet has to fall in love with her teacher. It's a miracle this doesn't happen on The Secret Circle.
Well, they are guaranteed 22 episodes, and that's enough time to make the show more compelling. Take out "Bridget is targeted for death" and replace it with "Siobhan is trapped in Bridget's world", and that might help. Of course, how long would Bridget force Siobhan to be trapped? Not long, and Shiv will betray Bridget and no one will notice.

There are other shows that have my attention, including Revenge. At least Emily Van Camp is Emily Thorne, or rather Amanda Clark (although I prefer Emanda Clarke-Thorne), a take-charge gal who has every right to destroy a massively rich couple who totally ruined her life a lot more than they can imagine or care (if they could). It's getting to the point, though, that innocent lives will be taken in this long battle, but it can't be helped. I suspect Emanada may face jail time even though Victoria and Conrad Grayson, the targets of her vengeance, committed more crimes against her. They'll get theirs, too, but Emanda will have to face punishment, even if she lists the evidence of their crimes against her. After that, she still wins..and probably expects to cease to exist when it's all over. I still like Emanda because she's a gal of action, instead of someone who has to pretend, and wonders when will she be exposed, and then dead.
You also have to admit Madeline Stowe is scary as Victoria Grayson. Maybe she should be the evil queen on Once Upon A Time instead.

I also like American Horror Story, which is really disturbing drama, and kind of exciting, too. I also think that if the show has a second season, Dylan McDermott and Connie Britton won't be part of it because the creators will kill their characters off, and admit the real star is Jessica Lange. I also have hopes for Grimm, if they can only make the lead character more interesting. When your sidekick outshines the lead actor, you're in trouble. Add that to competing against science in Fringe, and two other demon hunters in Supernatural, and Grimm will have a tough time attracting viewers.

Coming This Fall..A Lot Of Whedonverse Alumni

Now that the TV season is over, and we say goodbye to three TV stales, it's time to look at the future.
Last year at this time, fans of the Whedonverse were happy a lot of the old gang were still on TV from Eliza Dushku on Dollhouse to Julie Benz in Dexter, from Alyson Hannigan in How I Met Your Mother, to Nathan Fillon on Castle. There was also the return of Morena Baccarin as the now very angry Visitor leader in V.

As for next season, many Whedonverse favorites will still be with us, and even a few coming back on movies or TV. Many of them will be coming from Firefly. Fillion and Baccarin will be back in their shows. Summer Glau is poised to return as a crusading blogger helping a vigilante known as The Cape, Sean Maher and Jewel Staite will make an appearance on Warehouse 13, Alan Tudyk will be part of Transformers 3 (but Megan Fox won't be), Adam Baldwin will be a reluctant mentor to a spy-in-training on Chuck. Even Ron Glass, aka Book, will return when we finally learn "The Shepherd's Tale" in a new book from Dark Horse.
We shouldn't forget Gina Torres, who will be a counselor in Huge, about teens at a camp for heavy teens, especially one who refuses to believe being big is bad. That will be on ABC Family later this month.

Alyson Hannigan, of course, is still with How I Met Your Mother (which hopefully will return to getting us closer to that), and David Boreanaz will be back in Bones. James Marsters, who's becoming more well-known for Caprica than he was in Buffy and Angel, may be well-known in a new version of Hawaii Five-0 as the nemesis of McGarrett. Benz, meanwhile, will soon become part of No Ordinary Family, as the mom who suddenly becomes faster than her mini-van...although the rest of the family have new skills, too.

Of course, things may change between now and the fall. Fran Kranz was supposed to be part of a new NBC sitcom but was recast after the pilot. Rest assured, though, these and other actors in the Whedonverse will make their way to our TV and movie screens soon enough.

Serenity Movie Weekend: Did She Kill Him With Her Brain?

When it comes to murder mysteries on Lifetime, there are two categories: the heroine is accused of murder, and spends the rest of the movie to clear her name; and the heroine is accused of murder, but you're not quite sure if she's innocent.

Summer Glau has played a genius girl who has been damaged by government (Serenity/Firefly) or by an accident (Dollhouse), and also a butt-kicking android protecting the future (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles). It has been rare for her to play a typical girl. Last night, though, she got her chance in a new Lifetime Movie Network film called Deadly Honeymoon. She played Lindsay, a new bride on her honeymoon with her husband, Trevor (Chris Carmack). It looks like the couple is well-matched, but looks can be deceiving. Typical murder plot for Lifetime.
The couple meets a fellow passenger, Kim, and three Hungarians that Trevor hopes will help out in a new business he and his wife want to start. However, Trevor would rather party than be with Lindsay, and even one of the Hungarians tries to make out with her.
Then, Trevor goes missing while Lindsay is found in a daze in a hallway under the ship. Is Trevor dead? Did Lindsay do it?

Now, if Lindsay were innocent, without a doubt, the movie will center on her efforts to clear her name. Not so here. The attention also centers on a vacationing FBI agent (Zoe McLellan) who gathers the details about the couple, and the Hungarians. Meanwhile Lindsay is trying to deal with all that has happened. A scene where she talks to her parents through a laptop is heartbreaking. Summer really sells this as a girl who goes from being in a daze to total devastation.
The FBI agent starts to wonder if Lindsay is as innocent as she looks. Lindsay admits there are a few things she didn't mention, but mostly because she's scared what Trevor's family would think.
There is a later scene where Lindsay talks to the captain about what happened. I won't describe it, but it is also devastating for a different reason.
As for how everything is resolved, at least one TV critic was hoping for a more surprising ending, but I thought it made sense.
I'm hoping this movie will open up more chances for Summer to be a typical girl in romantic or dramatic situations, rather than a Terminator or wounded computer genius.
Then again, we're also crossing our fingers that NBC will add The Cape to its 2010 fall lineup. If so, she'll become a crime-fighting blogger...and that's pretty good, too.

Talkin' Serenity and Wondercon

Wondercon is just a few weeks away, and it looks like Whedonistas will have a lot to talk about, but that's later

First, I wanted to say how HAPPY I am we'll finally get to hear "The Shepherd's Tale" (aka Book, the Mysterious Early Years). Instead of it being told in three comic book issues, we'll get it as one hardcover in November. It will be the perfect Christmas gift, along with the Firefly key chain I should be getting soon. The info about this story was first told at the 2007 Browncoat Cruise,and we've been waiting ever since. I think the only juicy clue we got from Ron Glass is that Shepherd Book is not his real name. The rest will come, thanks to Joss and Zack Whedon.

However, we will get another Serenity comic book thaks to Patton Oswalt. He's writing a story called "Float-Out", which is really a tribute to that dinosaur fan of a pilot, Wash. This is set just after Serenity. Oswalt, a new member of the Whedonverse thanks to his fine roles in Dollhouse, has written a few other stories for comics. This should really get him a lot of attention, aside from being a Pixar icon thanks to Ratatouille. The issue is coming in June

OK, now to Wondercon, or one of two reasons why I am heading to SF in April...James Marsters is still planning to be there, but not on a panel. He's there on behalf of Lightspeed Fine Art for autographs and photos. He should also be there to talk about his current role in Caprica, since there will be a panel. Say, if we asked effectively.......

Meanwhile, there will be panels for three TV shows with Whedon alumni. Fans of Morena Baccarin will be happy to know a fresh episode of V will be part of the first day. No word yet on whether she'll be there, too, but we can hope. On Saturday, we get a preview of Happy Town which is about a perfect small town that has horrible secrets...like they're supposed to. Amy Acker will be there, and it's certain she'll be asked about Dollhouse. She'll also be on Human Target, too.

Day three will be the traditional Chuck panel, with Adam Baldwin, Zachary Levi and the gang.

Dark Horse and IDW will also have their panels, too. With news about Serenity and the big plot twist about Twilight Not The Movie on Buffy Season 8 (really, it would have been better if it were Giles, not who it really is, since he was doing dark things in his younger days), Dark Horse will be the more popular panel. Maybe Patton will be there. If Joss was there, THAT would be big.

Naturally, the closing event is again "Once More With Feeling". While it's becoming a tradition, why not have a double feature with Dr. Horrible done in the Rocky Horror style? That's bound to happen when Comic-Con rolls around.

One thing is for sure: Wondercon will not leave San Francisco. It's still the right size for the Comic-Con's annual dress rehearsal.

SyFy presents "Red": On the other hand....

@GrrAargh, from Twitter, posted me about my take on the SyFy fairy tale called "Red' with Felicia Day as Red Riding Hood, who'll face a bigger problem than getting through the woods and a Big Bad Wolf.
To repeat, in this version, Red presents her fiance to her family of werewolf hunters. He gets bitten by a werewolf, and now he's one, too. Thus, she has to decide whether to protect her fiance, or kill him.
From the entry in Wikipedia GrrArgh pointed out, the familiar story can be interpreted as a girl's maturity to womanhood, a morality tale about talking to strangers, or even more intimate that that, as in The Company of Wolves.

I still think my idea might work, even if it's apparently been used before in other media. In the end, it will be a version of Red Riding Hood with forbidden love and werewolf hunting thrown in the mix. After seeing this Wiki about the story, it may not be too far out as viewers may think. Still, it's still about love or duty, a decision a certain Slayer had to make in Sunnydale 12 years ago. We'll see how SyFy presents this age-old dilemma next year.

Felicia Day is Red Riding Hood, but about the story...

As I was looking over the disappointment Oscar viewers were experiencing from last night, and finding out that Comcast wished they hired better crew members to "upgrade" their cable service, I found out about Felicia Day being part of SyFy's series of movies that re-invent classic fairy tales. A couple of weeks ago, we had Beauty and the Beasts, which had a sexy mini-skirted Estella Warren protecting a beast accused of murder actually being orchestrated by an evil prince and his own beast. Naturally, there's a love story.
Anyway, SciFiWire revealed Felicia Day will be in one of those SyFy Fairy Tales. She'll be Red Riding Hood in Red, only it includes werewolves and forbidden love...for the Twilight crowd. The story is Red Riding Hood introduces her fiance to her family of werewolf hunters. He winds up getting bitten by a werewolf, and she has to decide between love and duty.

For one thing, it sounds like Beauty and the Beasts. Not every SyFy fairy tale has to include a love story. Instead, try this idea...

Red Riding Hood is starting her training as a werewolf hunter. She meets a handsome guy who has a dark edge to him. Of course, she attracted to the guy. Just after he arrives, there's a series of murders, and people turning into werewolves. Of course, Handsome Guy is responsible, but he acts like Red's ally. He even helps her kill some werewolves, just to cover his own tracks. However, he makes the mistake of biting Red's grandma. Thus, the famous "Oh, Grandma, what sharp teeth you have" scene takes on a whole new meaning. It's still between love and duty, but at least she gets to be more heroic when she finally defeats the true wolf in sheep's clothing. This really doesn't need a love story, especially a forbidden one.

There's also a question on whether this will affect the future of The Guild. We're still hoping for a fourth season, as Codex has to deal with the Big Bad Wolf she wound up with at the end of season three. Apparently, though, this will be filmed in Canada soon. This may mean a longer wait than usual for more Guild episodes, but as long as there will be more.

Still, it's a great opportunity for Felicia, and we wish her all the best. I still think my plot is better than SyFy's plot.

Why I'm Not Using Logo as My Buffy Fix

As some of you may know, only because this hasn't been mentioned a lot by anyone, Logo and MTV will start showing episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer every day. Logo has started a New Year's marathon by looking at most of season 2, where we were introduced to Spike and Drusilla, a new Slayer, and the first major defeat Buffy suffered by losing Angel.
Great start, huh? After that, you'd think they'd start from the beginning once they start daily airings of the show.
Well, no. According to the Logo Online website, this week will feature "Hush", "Once More With Feeling", "Dead Things", and "Dopplegangland".
All great episodes, but wouldn't it be better if we saw them in order?
Hopefully, Logo will do this eventually, but it would have been a better idea to do it that way starting Monday. At least FX did that.
On the other hand, the Logo Online website does allow you to see full episodes online, including "Hush" and "Once More..."
MTV is also supposed to start showing Buffy every day, starting with a marathon next weekend. No word yet on how they'll handle the series, but at least it's a chance for people to see what good teen horror drama can be, especially if it's funny on purpose.
After all, there are still some people allergic to DVD's. Why not have someone on cable keep airing a TV show that a lot of other shows are trying to live up to...such as a British show that features a teenage boy who's suddenly told his family's business is vampire hunting.
I'll get to that Sunday.