Monday, December 2, 2013
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| Na na na na na na na na Alfred! |
Grimm, Castle, Arrow, One Piece, I talk a lot about TV shows I like. It can be hard to get into a show that is already several seasons in. I prefer to get into shows on the ground floor, although watching three seasons of Castle in two weeks was a lot of fun and got me caught up to enjoy the ongoing fourth season. It can be overwhelming to many people including myself when a show has three or more seasons. You miss so much, how are you supposed to watch it all? Not everyone enjoys that. It's nice sometimes to get into a show from the first season.
There is a lot to choose from and a lot of hidden gems. Geeky culture is starting to become more profitable, that can be both a good and a bad thing, but for now, here is my geeky picks of shows that are still only in their first season to check out while you still have the chance.
9. Xiaolin Chronicles
Ok, this one is a bit of a cheat, its based off of an old Cartoon that aired years ago on WB called Xiaolin Showdown. Go watch it on Hulu. It's odd and slow at times, but the writer and director, Christy Hui is building a world and making the characters more diverse. When it fell apart after season three, there was so much more to tell. Now years later she is starting it up again on Canadian television. It's silly fun that mixes western and eastern animation and story and with only a few episodes in, it's worth checking out before it goes crazy. Gong Yi Tan Pai!
8. Steven Universe
No not the Steven Hawkings Universe, but that is still awesome. This is a brand new Cartoon Network show.
It sucks being the youngest trying to find your place in the family business. It's even harder when the three older female siblings are protectors of the world with fantastic powers, and poor Steven can't figure out how to use his gem to help. He tries to make breakfast, be supportive and help out however he can anyway, making more trouble than he meant too, but also at other times coming through and saving the day. I really enjoyed the diversity of the cast, and that they are always kind and supportive of Steven despite his getting into trouble. If you liked Adventure Time, this is a sweet show to watch.
7. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
The original Once Upon a Time show is in it's third and I think it's final season. The storybook characters of Disney fairy tales living in the real world, never knowing who they were until the curse was lifted. Despite the feeling that they had no idea where they were going during the second season, it's great fun to enjoy.
During the appearance of the mad hatter, they gave a tiny glimpse into the world of wonderland. Only hinting here and there, but never really exploring it. To be fair, there is a lot of ground the writers could cover with many other Disney tales. Well now they plan on exploring it with Alice. Sure we've heard this story, and you may be tired of Alice getting a new treatment time and time again, but watching Alice take down eight burly guards by herself while dealing with not only the Queen of Hearts, but Jafar from Aladdin as well? All while trying to rescue her true love, the Genie in the bottle? It's actually pretty interesting and worth a look.
6. Crazy Ones
Robin Williams. You love him or you hate him. The TV show is being spearheaded by the same group that did Ally McBeal and you can see it in it's zany writing. 'The Crazy One's' is a clever dual reference to not only the crazy people working at the Ad agency in the show, but also to the famous commerical by Apple and Steve Jobs. It's a fun and silly pleasure to watch the oddness unfold and the strange characters that show up as guest stars.
Plus it's Robin Williams on TV which the last time was Mork and Mindy. That was ok right? I never saw it. Tell me if I'm right.
5. Beware the Batman
Despite the fact that I'm a bigger Spider-man fan, I will always enjoy a good Batman story. For those of you who know about the show, we all made fun of the aesthetics and the strange characters. The weird CGI, the fact that batman was missing the top half of his head, and Alfred wielding guns?
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| Do kids even know Wind and the Willows references? |
They cut out all the major characters and instead bring in B listers and unknowns into the fray. What happens is it makes Batman more interesting.
The animation is tight, the stories are fun and enjoyable, and Batman needs an image change now and then. It's on hiatus until January so watch it now before it gets three seasons like Brave and the Bold.
4. Almost Human
Karl Urban is usually in the coolest films, or at least my favorite characters in them. Bones in Star Trek, Black Hat in Priest, Judge Dredd, he's pretty awesome. Now he plays a detective in the future named, John Kennex, a generally grumpy guy with a distrust in androids, who is paired with Dorian, an Android that was decommissioned for having human emotions. It's a standard buddy cop set in the future.
It's the same sort of story we have heard before, the latest episode last week was pretty much Diehard, and the writers knew it. The show just clicks and becomes fun and enjoyable. Check it out tonight just for fun and see what you think.
3. Gravity Falls
A brother and sister are sent away to Gravity Falls, a sleepy little town to stay with their Great Uncle Stan, or Grunkle Stan for short. While there the brother, Dipper Pines, runs across a mysterious book, warning whoever reads the book that strange and terrifying creatures exist and make Gravity Falls their home. With his sister Mabel amd Soos the loveable Man Child Janitor, they'll deal with ghosts, dinosaurs, zombies and living video game characters as they try to enjoy their summer.
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| Smile Dip. So many good memories. . . |
The shear joy I got from this show is beyond explanation. It is well written, enjoyable, and teases kids and adults to see the hidden parts here and there. With a huge fan base and one HECK of a season finale, this is defiantly one you should be checking out as soon as you can. The second season will be coming and there is an extra DVD with several short episodes to tide us over until then.
2. Agents of Shield
Marvel films have come out of nowhere to become huge box office smashes. When Marvel was bought by Disney, we all feared the worse. However, instead, they were given more tools and resources to expand outside of the comics. Now there is an animated universe, and a TV show that expands the film series Marvel universe as well.
Slow to start, but so was Buffy and Firefly. Joss drags things out with his stories, but the payoff does come as you begin to care for each character and watch as they surprise you. Even with Whedon's hands tied (he can't use the word 'mutant' and there is a short short list of characters he is even allowed to bring on the show) he's been doing a decent job with it. Don't wait to check it out when it's in its fifth season and Malcolm Renolds becomes a guest star.
Melinda May is the best. She will END you. :D
1. Sleepy Hollow
We should be able to play with our classics. Everyone else does. Japan has simple people in the past turned into super heroes, as does Europe. So let's enjoy a good old tale retold for enjoyment.
This is Fox's version of Supernatural. A young female cop and a two hundred year old brit fighting spooks and monsters while trying to prevent the apocalypse from happening. A fantastic cast with fun chemistry. Ichabod Crane was a revolutionary soldier who was injured fighting a demon of a man whose head he cut off. He wakes up in the present day to find that the man he was meant to kill has also survived, the headless horseman, one of the four horseman of the apocalypse. Lt. Grace Abigail "Abbie" Mills is a detective on the force in the town of Sleepy Hollow who now works with him as they are destined to confront and defeat the evil which is trying to destroy the world, as well as the newly risen evil terrorizing people.
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| Seems to be a trend going of taking an abrasive yet handsome brit and paring them with an american woman. |
The amount of detail into Ichabod is wonderful, fixing stereotypes and using real world history. They had an episode where a boy was transported from the 1400's, and he spoke middle english! Watch it for the monsters and mayhem, stay for the history lessons. This is a fun and crazy show that has only just begun!
Ones I am still evaluating:
Atlantis: Replacing Merlin as a fantasy old time story. Already renewed for a second season so I gotta get on it quick while there are only 13 episodes.
The Blacklist: An FBI most wanted fugitive gives himself up so he can work with them to find the worst global criminals the FBI has no knowledge of. It might just be a CSI style show but I've been told it is pretty fun so we'll see if it is worth my time.
Ones that failed to impress me:
Dracula: Boring boring boring. You can tell me about how that time period was til the cows come home, it doesn't make it any easier to watch.
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