Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Doux News: July 15, 2012


All Hail the King --- Comic-Con 2012 --- When a Show Sneaks Up on You --- Casting News Galore

All Hail the King

The most notable news of the day (as far as I’m concerned) is that Breaking Bad Season 5 premieres tonight! Woot!

Billie has been pushing hard to finish retro reviews for the series in time to start fresh tonight, and she’s been doing a stellar job. Breaking Bad is not an easy show to watch, and given how layered it is, it has to be even more difficult to review. Especially when you need to cover so many episodes in such a short time! So let’s all give Billie a round of virtual applause for cranking out so many thoughtful and detailed reviews for this brilliant series over the last couple weeks. Kudos, Billie! And one more “Woot!” in anticipation of getting to “break bad” tonight. Woot!

Comic-Con 2012

In the immortal words of Inigo Montoya: “Let me explain --- No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

You know what? Even summing up would be too much. Coverage of this weekend’s Big Show is all over the web, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find news on your specific interests. I’ve mostly been following Hitfix to keep abreast of the latest and greatest. You can also check out TV Line, but tread lightly at that site if you are spoiler-averse.

A special highlight of the Con coverage for me was Alan Sepinwall’s live-blog of the Firefly 10-year reunion panel. He did a great job capturing the spirit and emotion in the room, and reading it actually made me tear up a bit.

The good news for all of us who couldn’t be at the reunion panel in person, is that the Science Channel will be airing an hour-long special titled Browncoats Unite on Sunday, November 11, following an all-day series marathon. The special will include footage from the reunion panel and a behind-the-scenes roundtable moderated by EW’s Jeff Jensen. I’m putting it on my calendar right now!

When a Show Sneaks Up on You

This week I was catching up with some backlogged Gateworld podcasts, and I finally listened to their tribute to Joel Goldsmith, the Stargate series composer who passed away in April. It drove me to rewatch the end of Stargate Universe again, just so I could listen to Joel’s beautiful scoring, and strangely, those final sequences still reduced me to tears. I remain amazed at how deeply those characters worked themselves into my heart. It really took me a long time to warm up to SGU, and even after it became a show I started to look forward to each week, I just didn’t realize how much I had come to care about the characters until I unexpectedly cried profusely at some of the final episodes. Isn’t it funny when a show sneaks up on you like that?

I’m having a similar experience right now with Falling Skies. I watched the first season, but only cared about a few of the characters (and not very strongly). But only a few episodes into this season, and I’m crying and laughing and grinning like an idiot fairly regularly over the course of an hour. (The overly convenient plot contrivances are even starting to bug me less!) So weird. But, good timing, I suppose, since the show was just renewed for a third season. Here’s hoping my newfound affection for the characters sticks!

Casting News Galore

Sam is apparently getting a love interest in the upcoming season of Supernatural. And a recurring one at that! Anyone want to start the wagering on how many episodes it takes before she gets killed in gruesome fashion?

Community’s Joel McHale will be doing a multi-episode guest turn in Season 5 of Sons of Anarchy. Interesting.

Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont, Game of Thrones) is going to be guesting on Haven this season.

Speaking of Game of Thrones, Diana Rigg has been cast as Lady Olenna Tyrell, the Queen of Thorns, for the show’s upcoming third season (set to premiere March 31, 2013). Emma Peel is in the house! Huzzah! A fairly comprehensive list of other GOT casting news announced at Comic-Con (with pictures and a video) is available at Winter-is-Coming.

Jorge Garcia may be the latest Lost alum to appear on Once Upon a Time, but the creators don’t yet have a specific role in mind for him. How about instead of adding new characters, they give their existing secondary characters something compelling to do? Of course, if I read my Con coverage correctly, Meghan Ory has been promoted to series regular for the upcoming season, so maybe there’s hope!

And in other Lost alum news, Titus Welliver is set for a guest role on White Collar. I don’t watch White Collar, but Titus Welliver is awesome, so I thought I’d mention it. He did a great interview a month or so ago with the A.V. Club for their 'Random Roles' column, and it really deepened my appreciation for him and Deadwood. He talks a good bit about his experience as The Man in Black on Lost, too. It’s very much worth a read. And the embedded video of the fake Swearengen auditions is hilarious. Welliver is a master mimic!

That's it for this week. Opinions, raves, rants, questions? Any favorite Comic-Con news of note? Any other shows people were surprised to discover they had emotionally invested in? Post a comment!

12 comments:

  1. Yes, I have a few :

    a) wow ! so soon this Sunday morning ?! LOL

    b) OMG !!! 10 years already !!!???!! (Firefly)

    c) I've started watching Breaking Bad and I stopped because....it was too much. It IS brilliant (for the little that I saw) but a tad too dark for yours truly. Eventually, in a few years, I'll re-plunge into it (way after my Lost immersion)

    c2) Eventually, I'll also have to plunge into the SGU Universe...(need to take my retirement NOW !) (and I mean NOW)

    d) Wow ! Mister Greendale with the bikers ? That is promising (re-read 1st line of paragraph c) for this show also)

    e) Wow again. Miss Emma Peel to Westeros. TV, you are so good these days. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a terrific edition of Da News, Jess!

    Thank you so much for all the good words about Breaking Bad, which has pretty much taken over my life for the past few months. I'm posting the fourth season finale this morning so I'll be ready for the fifth season premiere tonight. It'll seem like a vacation to have only two reviews to write every week. :) (Breaking Bad and True Blood.)

    Shows that sneak up on you is a great topic. I've been weirdly obsessed with The Mentalist lately, although it's not the type of show I usually obsess about and it's also not the type of show I write about. I just find Simon Baker's Jane compelling, amusing and touching, and I like all of the supporting characters as well. (Especially Cho, whose deadpan expressions make me laugh.) Dan is enjoying the show, too, but keeps giving me something of a hard time for being into it.

    I'm definitely going to check out the Firefly reunion links.

    My contribution to the Comic-Con discussion is the first two minutes of the Dexter season seven premiere -- it's here. Lot of discussion about it, although I think it's difficult to tell what it might mean.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The little boy from Love Actually is also going to be in Game of Thrones as Jojen Reed. I'm really looking forward to seeing him being anything other than ridiculously adorable and cute, despite the fact that he's 20 now.

    As an avid White Collar fan, I'm also looking forward to seeing Titus on the series.

    I really haven't gotten into Breaking Bad. I've watched the first two episodes and it didn't do anything for me.

    The Following looks like it is going to be a pretty good show. I don't see it lasting more than a season though, and I kind of hope that it fails, so that the chances of James Purefoy being cast as Mance Rayder on Game of Thrones becomes fact instead of a Fan Favourite Dream Cast.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dexter's 2 minutes. Oh wow. Sister finally caught (up with) him.

    The bad guys from New Mexico and the bikers are too much for me, but not Dexter. Go figure....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Emma Peel..sorry Diana Rigg also has a role in an upcoming Doctor Who episode alongside her daughter. So excited.
    Anna

    ReplyDelete
  6. Billie, congratulations on finishing Breaking Bad! You've been reviewing like crazy lately. I hope you've got some chocolate to keep you company for tonight's episode.

    Jess, thank you for that link to the Titus Welliver interview! When Lost was wrapping up, I bumped into him twice (once almost literally, with a grocery cart) at my grocery store and tried really hard to not let it show just how freaked out I was that the Man in Black buys milk at the same place I do.

    Ever since then, I've been a big fan of his. (I realize that doesn't make any sense, but that's how I operate.) But it's always delightful to read an interview with an actor I like and start liking him more rather than less.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Billie: same thing happened to me with The Mentalist:) completely agree with you that Jane is fascinating, and Cho just cracks me up sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great post...it'll take me hours to go to all those links and read/watch/listen. Love it. And Iain Glen on Haven - awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for the comments, everyone! I'm glad you are finding the news and the links entertaining, and loved hearing about some other "sneak attack" shows. Thanks for sharing!

    Josie, I'm so glad the interview with Titus Welliver made you like him more, too. I'd hate to be responsible for linking you to something that undermined your appreciation for an actor you like!

    And for those of you that can't get into Breaking Bad, I completely understand. It's definitely not for all tastes. Not only is the subject matter dark, it can be physically challenging to watch. It is such an intense experience. I often find myself pressed into the back of my couch or curled into a ball from all the tension! And I usually need to physically decompress when it's over. And yet, I can't wait to do it again tonight! I must be crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jess, now I've gotten around to watching the video of Titus Welliver's impressions.

    Here's the direct link if anyone wants it:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fS_lE_AcD2k

    Everyone, please watch it immediately. Hungry children, angry bosses, encroaching zombies? You can spare 10 minutes and 2 seconds to watch a very, very funny video.

    Some highlights:

    "The nuance of the character is that he likes to shout."

    "Fred Astaire circa 1877."

    "If you wanna gain weight, that's fine with me."

    ReplyDelete
  11. celticmarc: Ha, I had the same reaction to Breaking Bad. I actually made it through the whole first season, but then I just couldn't go on. It was like watching a trainwreck in slow motion. Sure, it's fascinating, but you know it's going to end with mangled bodies and ruined lives. And it just feels so real!

    Anyway, it's good to know I'm not the only one.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jess :

    I come to this site EVERY day. Does that make me crazy ? LOL (well, I AM (!) but that's another story)

    Michal and everybody :

    yes, breaking bad is difficult but I do acknowledge that it's brilliantly written. One day....one day...

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.