My summer projects

The television season is winding down. Alias is in its final throes. Those last three episodes were terrific, weren't they? All those wonderful returning guest stars and plots? I have high hopes for the finale. And then Jen can go back to Ben and baby Vi. I wish her the best.

Lost is nearly done for the summer. I hope we get some answers in the next few episodes. If we don't, Lost may lose some viewers. Not me, of course, because I still love it. But I think people are getting impatient with the way they keep stringing us along. Okay, maybe I'm a little impatient.

Smallville and Veronica Mars are winding down, too. (No, I'm not watching season two of Veronica; I've only seen season one so far.) Frustrating that there is still no renewal news on either of them yet, probably because the new WBUPNCW network, whatever it's going to be called, is waiting to make a big announcement. Turkeys. Does Tom Welling want to quit and make bad movies? Have they decided Veronica Mars' ratings aren't high enough, even with its significant critical acclaim?

I used to have Battlestar Galactica to look forward to in the summer, but not this year. (October?!). Yes, The Dead Zone returns in June, and I am of course going to watch it. If all we get is Johnny Smith, Psychic Detective, though, I probably won't review it. I'm sad about what happened to The Dead Zone. It was so special and innovative. Every episode was unique. And then it changed. Well, maybe it'll change back. Hope springs eternal in the television critic's breast. Couldn't they at least resolve the Stillson arc and then cut us loose?

At least there are DVDs. I've finished reviews for the first half of Firefly now. Why did I resist it for so long? I've started on season one of Veronica Mars, and I'm going to work on Six Feet Under when I'm done with Firefly. Six Feet Under intimidates me. It'll be like writing a thesis. Well, a fun thesis.

And then there's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My Buffy reviews were really my first, and if you've read them, you've probably noticed that the early ones are pretty sparse. In May, my discussion list BtVS101 is going to start watching and discussing one episode a week, starting with "Welcome to the Hellmouth." It ought to be fun. You're welcome to come join us.

What are you watching this summer? Lines are open.

[Note from much later: all of these reviews are available on my site.]

Firefly and Six Feet Under

And the winners are...

Yes, I know I didn't even mention it in my reader survey, but I finally got around to watching Firefly and Nathan Fillion just won me over. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Firefly also has the advantage of being an easy commitment review-wise because it was over way too soon.

So I've started writing Firefly reviews. I won't be able to finish them quickly because season finales are approaching, but the summer television wasteland is also approaching. A summer with no Battlestar Galactica because it's not coming back until freaking October. (October?!) Which means that I'll basically have the summer free to catch up with non-current shows.

Another non-current show, Six Feet Under, is also calling me, and I'm going to have to write about it. Haven't started yet, and probably won't until May or June, but reviews are coming.

I'm worried about making a commitment to another current show at this point. I'm not going to stop reviewing Lost. My commitment to Smallville isn't deep, but I do enjoy writing about it; it's a lot of fun. I'm very into Battlestar Galactica, and they just made it harder for me by announcing that new episodes will air in the fall instead of summer. What this means that if I take on another current show that airs in the fall (like, say, Veronica Mars) I'll be doing four at the same time. I did four at the same time once, and it was hard. It was difficult for me to keep up and I experienced some burn-out.

And what if I fall in love with something new this fall? If four makes me burn out, what would five do?

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. It's sort of meander-y.

But hey! Firefly! I think I've gotten more letters asking me to review Firefly than any other show, with the possible exception of Veronica Mars. That's not why I'm doing it, of course, but still.