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Doux News: April 28, 2013


This week: The Buffy Re-Watch -- Sunbunny Tweets -- Renewals, New Shows, and Showrunner Departures -- This week in TV tidbits, including a Doctor Who tirade -- This week in cat (ears)

New at Doux

I usually put this section last, but not this time because the Buffy Re-Watch starts this Thursday, May 2! We've gotten a terrific response to the initial announcement, including several pledges from newbies to finally give the show a try. We Buffy-obsessed will just have to carry those newbies through to… which episode do you think is the first one that gives us a glimpse of how good the show eventually became? "Angel"? "Prophecy Girl"? I'm fond of "The Puppet Show", just because it was so damned funny. Although it might be "School Hard" that will seal the deal.

As I mentioned in the original re-watch post, a link to the episode we're watching and discussing will always be in the Buffy Re-Watch box on the top left of the site; I'll post a new one in the morning on even-numbered days. I'm planning to tweet the link, too. Do you follow us on Twitter? I'd love it if you did. I'm a boring tweeter and basically I just post links to our latest reviews, but I'm happy to announce that Sunbunny took over primary tweeting duties for us last week, and she's actually witty and fun and has the hang of Twitter and everything. We already have a bunch of new followers, which makes me very happy.

If you're into Facebook, I'm planning to post a link to the day's Re-Watch episode there, too. Not to diss Facebook, but I like Twitter better. Mostly because Sunbunny is there.

Renewals, New Shows, and Showrunner Departures

This week, The Vampire Diaries aired a backdoor pilot for a spinoff called The Originals, and five minutes later, the CW gave it the nod. And Hart of Dixie and Beauty and the Beast were renewed. No word yet on Nikita, although the prevailing wisdom seems to be that Nikita will get another season to satisfy the requirements of syndication. We shall see.

Revolution, Grimm, Parenthood, Chicago Fire, and Law & Order: SVU have all been renewed by NBC, and isn't it nice that they're not making us wait so long these days? No news yet on the fate of Parks and Recreation or Community. Is it wrong of me to hope that Community will be canceled? I'd hate to see it dragging on next season as a shadow of its former incredibly wonderful self.

I loved Revenge last season. Unfortunately, this season hasn't been thrilling me and I'm at the point of giving up on it. Apparently, I'm not the only one. ABC and Revenge creator and showrunner Mike Kelley are parting ways and if Revenge is renewed (and it almost certainly will be) it will get a new boss.

The article reports that the reason for the tension between Mike Kelley and ABC came down to Kelley's desire for much shorter seasons of 13 episodes. And Kelley is probably right, since the longer seasons have included filler that isn't working all that well for the show.

This week in TV tidbits, including a Doctor Who tirade

J.J. Abrams may be making Stephen King's huge time travel novel, 11/22/63, into a television series. I'm a fan of J.J.'s. I'm a fan of Stephen King's. I'm a fan of time travel stories. That's three!

Lawrence Gilliard Jr. has just been added to the cast of The Walking Dead. Gilliard is the second new cast member of The Walking Dead who originally worked on The Wire; Gilliard played D'Angelo Barksdale, a character I liked a lot. So this is terrific news. Although I'm sure we're all pondering whether or not the producers of The Walking Dead are responding to the heaping piles of criticism they've been getting that they keep killing off black characters.

Joss Whedon was asked about the ongoing name-changing of his new TV show (what's it called now?), the resurrection of one of its characters, and how it will work but not clash with the Avengers movies. Unfortunately, he didn't really tell us anything, but here's the link, anyway.

There has been so much news that I've been ignoring about the upcoming 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, and now one of the main reasons I'd be excited about it isn't going to happen. John Barrowman has confirmed that Captain Jack Harkness won't be appearing, and not because Barrowman turned it down. He's been telling the world that he wanted to appear in it, and he even got permission in advance from the producers of Arrow just in case he was asked. But no.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Captain Jack is one of only two of the Doctor's companions who got a spinoff series, isn't he? Captain Jack is actually the reason I got into Doctor Who in the first place; I saw Torchwood first. (Because James Marsters guest starred. It's still all about Buffy the Vampire Slayer for me, isn't it?)

This is somewhat unrelated, but I must report that I'm not feeling the Doctor Who love this spring. If I didn't watch it with someone who is more into it than I am, it would probably sit on the DVR. Is Stephen Moffat getting tired? Is Matt Smith? What do you all think? Is it time for a new Doctor? I know they like to tease us, and it's very possible that a female Doctor wouldn't work, but I keep thinking that Sophia Myles would be perfect. Maybe that's just me.

This week in cat (ears)

I've worn a costume or two in my time, but I don't think I could wear cat ears that detect my mood. Especially at work, because then everyone would know how I really feel about my job.

That's it for this week. Opinions, raves, rants, questions? Post a comment!

18 comments:

  1. Buffy re-watch! Woo-hoo! Is it Thursday yet?

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  2. I'm very excited about The Walking Dead casting news. Lawrence Gilliard Jr. was so fantastic on The Wire, and yet he hasn't done a whole lot since. I'm excited for what he could bring to TWD, and I'm hopeful that if he gets killed off too soon, the exposure he gets on such a massively popular show leads him to more higher profile work. He's really talented and deserves to be seen more.

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  3. I'm about done with Revenge..if it doesn't improve for the finale I'm out.
    The showrunner leaving is either good or terrible news..can't decide.
    A female doctor? Sure, but they're too conservative for that. Won't be a non-white actor either for the same reason. No Jack? Boo.
    Anna

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  4. So excited for Buffy re-watch! I thought Nightmares in the first season was excellent. But I do remember watching Buffy from the beginning and my friend telling me that the turning point would come in the 2nd season...when I watched School Hard, I thought THAT was the turning point. Then I realized my friend meant Surprise/Innocence. That said, I was hooked at School Hard with Spike.

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  5. D'Angelo from the Wire on The walking dead..great news..he really brought something extra to the Wire.
    Anna

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  6. Excited for the Buffy rewatch! School Hard was the turning point for me - it's interesting how a character like Spike can make a show better, even for the episodes/seasons he's not in.

    Same thing for Captain Jack on Doctor Who. His first two episodes made me a fan of the show. While I'm sad he won't be back for the anniversary, I think it's better that they won't be bringing everyone possible back, a la The Stolen Earth/Journey's End. With that, at least they had two episodes so it didn't feel as crowded, with the anniversary episode, they only have one.

    I don't think Doctor Who is going downhill. The episodes feel a little different, but these are the first ones I'm getting to watch as they air, so there's now a week between episodes of pondering and nitpicking that I didn't have before. Cold War was definitely the low point of this half of series 7, but I've thought all the rest of the episodes were somewhere between pretty great and exceptionally brilliant.

    And please, not a female Doctor (and Sophia Myles had too iconic of an episode to appear again). I'm hoping Matt will stick around for series 8 because I think he's still doing an amazing job of balancing the broken old man with the crazy child.

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  7. "Mostly because Sunbunny is there."

    Every time I see her nickname I picture myself a smiling hare on a sunny day. The kind that looks like Watership Down, but on a much better mood.

    Community : pull the plug please. Although I confess and admit that at least 2 moments on last Thursday's ep surprised me and made me LOL. Echoes from the Harmon past...But too little, too late. Such a pity for such an extraordinary show (first 3 seasons of course).

    For those of you who love Revolution, well, yay. I should be happy for Parenthood (and Lauren Graham, who finally lost her "label" as "show killer") but this family is not easy to endure (hence, kudos for the ENTIRE cast for their excellent acting).

    ..."longer seasons..."

    Ah ! The eternal debate between quality and quantity. And yes, too much is not necessarily a good thing. That's the way the Brits do it and I agree with this philosophy. Never (or rarely) a dull moment in Dexter's seven season and Fringe's (shortened) fifth. (As you know, I love In Plain Sight, and 8 ep's in the last season wasn't enough, as a fan and because some story arcs felt a bit rushed.)

    1963, a darn good year ! (at last for the Doctor and those born that year...)

    LOL for the cat ears. Oh ! My former boss (and colleagues) would have had a lot of fun if I had a pair ! I can picture you Billie : mostly black all day, then suddenly turning pink of joy when you get a good comment on this site!

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  8. I thought the whole first season of Buffy sucked. If I'd been watching it on TV, I probably would have given up on it. I was watching it on DVD though and I was promised it would get better, so I persevered, and I'm happy I did so :-)

    The first episode I thought was pretty good was Lie To Me. The ambiguous bad guy and the melancholic ending was when I first saw a real promise in the show.

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  9. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Captain Jack is one of only two of the Doctor's companions who got a spinoff series, isn't he?"

    Yep, although there was actually almost a third spin-off in the early 80's: the lamentable 'K-9 & Company', which, mercifully for all humankind, didn't get past the pilot ...



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  10. I'm fond of "The Puppet Show", just because it was so damned funny.

    THE PUPPET SHOW is my favorite season one episode.

    TORCHWOOD: CHILDREN OF EARTH was spectacular. The rest -- even the kiss between Spike and Captain Jack (although effective on a visceral level) -- did nothing for me with the exception of the CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS episode.

    Hey Billie!

    I have a general question: is it ok to present what we thought of the episodes when we first watched them, be it from their original airing or after?

    BUFFY is the one of the few TV shows (along with SCOOBY-DOO, DARK SHADOWS, V: THE FINAL BATTLE, BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY, FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES, FARSCAPE, LOST and TRUE BLOOD) that I still recall my initial reaction to individual episodes from the first time I watched them.

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  11. HBR, your original impressions would be perfect, especially since we'll be watching it with newbies. The only thing we won't want is spoilers for future episodes -- but I'll have a place for us to post those.

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  12. I'm ok with holding back spoilers.

    Watching BUFFY is a magnificent experience and I wouldn't want to ruin the suspense or excitement for anyone watching this series for the first time.

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  13. For all those who haven't seen, non-spoilerery awesome new Dexter promo. The end is near!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osmOCyy3Aak

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  14. I have to make a correction.

    THE PACK is my favorite season on episode. THE PUPPET SHOW is second.

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  15. HBR - Seriously? That's my least favorite episode. Of the ENTIRE series. I almost always skip it in rewatches. I feel the same way about "The Pack" episode that most people feel about "I Robot, You Jane." I'm not sure I have a legitimate reason for hating it so much, I just...do. When we get to it in our rewatch, be sure to tell me why you like it so much! Maybe I'll get it this time. :)

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  16. Yes, I'm being serious.

    If I had to come up with a top ten list of my favorite episodes, THE PACK would be in there somewhere.

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  17. (1) THE GIFT
    (2) PASSION
    (3) FOOL FOR LOVE/LIE MY PARENTS TOLD ME
    (4) BUFFY VS. DRACULA
    (5) NORMAL AGAIN
    (6) THE PACK
    (7) WHEN SHE WAS BAD
    (8) RESTLESS

    Top 8ish.

    After #8, my list starts to get a tad nebulous, since many episodes are tied for me.

    I should also let you all know that I liked Dawn from the moment she she was inserted in continuity in BUFFY VS. DRACULA.

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  18. Haha really? "Normal Again" is on my list too but a lot of people don't like it for some reason. Here's my list: http://sunbunny254.tumblr.com/post/48916620780/my-15-favorite-buffy-episodes

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