J.J. Abrams is one of the biggest name in sci-fi and all media (movies, TV, and even comics) at the moment, and frankly he deserves quit a bit of the praise. Lost was his first work that caught my attention. It’s brilliant use of science fiction concepts but with real life consequences and down to earth, epic, cinematic filmmaking quickly made it a work of television genius. Lost set a new high for TV shows, the scope of the show was enormous, with epic effects and more epic storytelling; which series like Heroes quickly followed. Fringe takes what Lost started and brings it to the next level. Abrams’ latest foray into TV is much more liberal with it’s use of sci-fi, but the trademark Abrams storytelling and filmmaking elements are still there in spades, making Fringe another milestone in television history alongside Lost and Heroes. MORE »
It has arrived, the penultimate episode of my favorite series of the year, The Middleman has graced our HDTV’s and old fashioned boob tubes, and boy does it go out with a bang. Back at Comic-Con Middleman-mastermind Javier Grillo-Marxuach let slip the title and plot of the finale, and when I heard that it was called The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome, and it took place in a mirror universe a la Star Trek (goatees and all) my love for sci-fi comedy gem was sealed instantly. What a brilliant premise, and a great way to play with some of the most classic sci-fi cliches, which is one of the things Middleman does best. In the Middle-verse Fatboy rules with an iron fist, the Middleman is a Snake Plissken rip-off, Nozer totes a shotgun, and Tyler is the deceseased former Middleboy. This easily could be my favorite episode of the series, perfect to get newcomers into the the show, and a shinging example of great television. If The Middleman doesn’t come back, I will loose faith in media all together. Yeah, it’s that good. MORE »
As we approach the end of the first, and most hopefully not last, season of the glorious gem known as The Middleman Javi and the gang continue to show us how unbelievably talented they are. As I said last time, the latter half of The MIddleman’s first season has been significantly deeper and more character-focused. That trend continues as we get to “The Clotharian Contamination Protocol”, the second to last episode of the season. And this week builds up to what looks to be one hell of a finale, introducing us to our main villain, Manservant Neville, as played by Mark Sheppard! Now Sheppard is no stranger to us Battlestar Galactica fans, where he played the suave and infinitely clever lawyer Romo Lampkin earlier this season. He also had a brief stint on Whedon’s Firefly as the conniving criminal ‘Badger’. With his wit and awesome accent he melds perfectly into the Middle-verse. And next week’s season finale is shaping up to the most brilliant episode of the series so far. MORE »
I had the pleasure of meeting Javi (the creator of Middleman) on the Comic-Con show floor. He gave and fellow Nerdgasmic blogger Sam Siskind some tidbits on upcoming episodes, and just from those quick one line synopsis I was amazed at how the show was evolving. This week brings us “The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation” where Wendy must infiltrate a haunted sorority and the Middleman is possessed by a sorority sister mad scientist. Javi and crew continue to impress me, every week brings another brilliant mix of sci-fi and comic book action/adventure on a shoestring budget. Matt Keeslar and Natalie Morales are brilliant as always, and Natalie really got to flush out Wendy’s character (like Matt got to do in last week’s Titanic tuba episode). But some of the real charm this week comes from Brendan Hines as Tyler (back from the Luciador episode) and Louis the ghost interpreter. They help give the episode an added level of charm and cleverness. MORE »
I can’t believe I didn’t get into this show earlier. It is a terrific combination of quick witted dialog, James Bond like action, and Bruce fraking Campbell. Burn Notice is about ex-spy Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan) trying to discover why he was “burned” (fired from being a spy, had his bank accounts and passport frozen) and stranded in Miami. The premise alone makes it worth a look, but it’s also incredibly well written and has some surprisingly high production values.
ABC Family, for some reason, picked up the comic book series The Middleman and hired the writer of the comics, Javier Grillo-Marxuach to pen the new show. The MIddleman turns out to be some serious super hero fun, but I can’t help but feel it would be better suited on the Sci-Fi Channel. The show follows the adventures of the milk drinking wise cracking Middleman played by Matt Keeslar, and his sidekick Wendy Watson (Natalie Morales).
I am literally shaking from excitement at the end of this weeks episode of Doctor Who. Since this is the first non-announcement post on Nerdgasmic, I’d like to express my aboslute love for everything Doctor Who, both old and new. Since the re-boot of Doctor Who started back in 2005 episodes written by Steven Moffat (such as The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, and Blink) have been consistently incredible. And of course his two parter this season, Silence in the Library (last week) and Forest of the Dead (this week), is no exception. Moffat is a perfect writer for Doctor Who, he is an expert at creating and expanding the wonderful mythology behind the show, the science fiction and fantasy aspects, while keeping the characters exciting and deep. This season’s two parter from Steven Moffat may just be the best episodes since the show returned. MORE »