Tag: television

Mixed feelings for American Horror Story

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Alexandra Breckenridge as young Moira O’Hara = Stupid hot

Nine episodes in, and I can’t really put my finger on it.  I’m continuing to put forth effort into watching American Horror Story, but I can’t honestly say that I’m really a gigantic fan of it.  Not like how I feel about Dexter, or The Walking Dead, and not even close.  I was never really captivated, and I feel as if I’m more fascinated with the fact that it’s the same people who did Nip/Tuck that created AHS, and I’m often curious to see how far they push the envelope of cable television, more than I am of the story.

Like Nip/Tuck, every character is deeply flawed, and they all do some immoral things on a fairly regular basis.  Men are made to look like bigger villains than women are, and there’s no shortage of gore, sexual situations and brutal violence in each episode.  Now I dig all of the above, but I’m not finding myself obsessively restructuring my schedule in order to watch AHS; Jen and I are watching it when it’s convenient for us.  But the core characters are put through so much torment on such a regular basis, it goes beyond the realm of reality of just how much bullshit a fictitious family can endure before everyone ends up dead, or the family runs away without any fear of the consequences.  Seriously, story or not, the family probably should have gone insane and left six episodes ago.

Alexandra Breckenridge on the other hand; I’ve had a thing for her since I saw her on Dirt, and it’s like she’s fulfilling all sorts of sordid fantasies for the male (and some female) worlds with the way she prances around as young Moira.  This, I cannot get enough of, and without any hint of lying, is a key reason for me to actually tune in.

Gripping. Absolutely gripping.

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

That’s pretty much all I can really say about The Walking Dead mid-season finale.  I haven’t felt this hooked into a television show since the fourth season of Dexter.  But I don’t think even Dexter could pull at the heart strings like The Walking Dead does.

I really can’t think of anything that disappoints me about the show, other than the fact that it’s not on more.  I’ve more or less developed at least one emotion to pretty much every character to this point, and I feel my entire body going tense while watching each episode.  There are parts where I can’t even sit down, I’m so far beyond the edge of my seat.  The zombies themselves are an afterthought for the most part, it’s the constant threat of them being around that is enough to create the necessary tension.

A long, long time ago, I read the first few issues of the comic book, so beyond the first season, this is all more or less new territory for me, beyond the few differences and wrenches the television storyline has embarked on.  Now, I dare not even think about delving into the comic books just yet, for fear of ruining the suspense and anticipation that I’ve created for myself in regards to the series.  Maybe later, in the future I will, but certainly not now.

I love where how the show is progressing with my boy Glenn, and it always rules to me when a male protagonist can have an emotional monologue, and get good results out of the words.  Vicariously, I want to be Glenn, with the opportunity to kill zombies and pursue a relationship with the hot farmer’s daughter.

I’m not even upset with the whole mid-season finale thing they’re doing.  I’m more in admiration for AMC’s intelligent decision to not bother competing with the stretch run of football, as well as the coming bowl season, and I’m guessing they’ll re-air the first seven episodes again, and try to snare some more loyal viewers, right before restarting the season in February, with hopefully a bigger following.

Walking Dead’s Glenn episode ftw

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Episode six of Walking Dead season 2 was probably the best episode evar.  Dating back to episode four, I’m ecstatic to see that my Atlanta-based, Korean-American boy, Glenn, is getting some significant character development and face time this season.  Furthermore, my heart and my fandom rejoices for the character, when he gets to have some post-zombie apocalyptic spontaneous sex action with the hot farmer’s daughter, Maggie.

This makes me happy in a myriad of ways:

  • Stephen Yeun playing Glenn is fantastically awesome.  Lauren Cohan playing Maggie is ridiculously hot.
  • It’s always been perceived as kind of taboo to have Asian people actually getting any makeout scenes with non-Asian people.  More so for Asian guys than Asian women.  And even more so for television than in movies.  It took forever for physical affection between interracial pairings to be portrayed in movies, and even longer for it to make it to television.  What I’m trying to say is that this kind of pairing, on cable television, feels like somewhat of an evolution of tolerance and acceptance of this kind of occurrence actually getting to happen.
  • Subsequently, mentally I’m thinking “fuck yeah Glenn, way to score with the hot farmer’s daughter!” which is kind of like living vicariously through a potential fantasy.
  • The Glenn character is getting some much deserved spotlight, and is a refreshing reprieve from ambiguous pregnancy, eventual heel turn and angsty gun-hungry cunt.  He wasn’t just the greaseman for once and was actually getting some lines, action, and a chance to portray a hero and a friend.

But mostly, I’m really just crushing hard on the Maggie character.  I will not look forward to the “mid-season break” that the show will embark on after Sunday, although I understand why it’s being done.  At least the wait won’t be that long, and that they’re not pulling the Sopranos bullshit, of not really letting anyone know when any new episodes would air at all.

eHarmony for cheaters

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

When I first heard of what Ashley Madison was, I was admittedly a little abhorred.  Cheating and affairs have always had a negative connotation, and here was a site that was not only promoting cheating on your significant other, but rather glorifying it.

To no surprise, the general reaction from the media and other outlets wasn’t that much different from my own; FOX disallowing their television spots to air during the Super Bowl, even if they were willing to shell out the millions of dollars necessary for 20-30 seconds of air time; even the jock-iest of jocks talking about online, their general apprehension of their spouses/significant others hearing it and having that seed planted in their heads.  Accounts of those who have already heard/seen advertising, and re-telling of the awkward silences between them and their others as the idea pervaded their brains, never to leave again.

Morally, I think the idea of Ashley Madison is horrible, and wrong on so many levels.  Perhaps I’m a little sensitive to the idea of someone cheating on me, but to think there are sites and resources out there that not only facilitate the act, but glorify it, and try to justify it is just really, really wrong.  The worst part is that they’re a pretty frequent sponsor to the Howard Stern Sirius channels, meaning I’m subject to their radio spots pretty often.  But it says something, when Howard Stern himself, who has done personal advertisement readings for businesses from sex shops to car dealerships to CougarLife.com, hasn’t done one for Ashley Madison.

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Today is a good day

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Despite closing in on nineteen-years of age, the dog taco underwent some dental surgery, at an age when anesthesia could inadvertently become euthanasia. But like the true champion dog taco he is, he woke up, much to my delight, and hopefully the worst part of it all is in the past.

Speaking of man’s best friend, I watched the premiere of Elijah Wood’s Wilfred on FX. I’m not going to say that the first episode blew me away or anything, and the pace of the show is a lot dryer than what it was built up to be in previews and advertising, but I’m willing to keep pushing forward. It’s entertainingly uncomfortable at times, and I see the potential there with it becoming an amusing train wreck of a show.

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Ruining the classics

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A long time ago, I used to really like Looney Toons. When my family first acquired cable when I was in the third grade, Looney Toons was almost literally, always on television. The TNT network was still very raw in those days, and they compensated for their lack of programming by having gigantic blocks of Looney Toons at almost all hours of the day. Before I left the house to go to the bus stop, I could watch some Bugs Bunny. The time in between returning from school and being forced to go piano lessons or Tae Kwon Do, there was more Looney Toons. In the evening, or on those nights where I couldn’t sleep, all I had to do was turn it to channel 100, and sure as shit, there would be some Looney Toons. Needless to say, I really liked Looney Toons.

Recently, I discovered that Cartoon Network has essentially created a new Looney Toons, and is currently in circulation. I won’t attest to making a conscious effort to check out this new show, as my television activities are pretty limited to baseball, wrestling, and sometimes Top Gear, but I did catch a few episodes in recent weeks.

Professional wrestling has taught me that adding “New” to anything is pretty much condemning it to suck. That being said, Cartoon Network’s New Looney Toons fucking sucks.

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The ironic musical episode

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Typically, most prime-time dramas ultimately get to a point where they have a musical episode.  House, M.D., and Nip / Tuck come to mind as series that have, in later seasons featured at least one episode where there are song and dance scores.  Such episodes are the oddest ones, because typically song and dance have positive connotations, and we’re expected to be excited, entertained, and made happy by seeing such boisterous activity.  But in drama shows like the ones mentioned, the musical episodes’ routines always go the way of ironic.  They’re still visually and sometimes audibly entertaining, but the subject matter in which they’re performing to, is usually either hinted through cryptic undertones, or blatantly, negative.  Cuddy has cancer and is going to die.  Christian Troy might have the HIV and could die.  Julia’s child is going to be born with a physical defect.  Etc, etc.

Last night, I had a dream, that was the ironic musical episode of dreams.  It’s amazing how a dream can feel like it takes place in an eternity, but when trying to re-tell it to yourself, it only takes seconds.  Yet the impact of such a dream has me feeling miserable, and honestly was capable of altering my entire evening.

It’s not so much that there was a lot of song, but there was certainly music.  How it went, I have no idea, but it was something to where there was dancing to be performed to it.  And it wasn’t people doing it, but animals.  Lots of animals.  Domestic pets, dogs and cats.  Amidst these animals were animals that were somehow familiar to me, but I couldn’t tell you which ones they were to save my life, save for one.  In unison, on their hind legs, awkwardly balanced, they danced, in an entertaining, YouTube-million-hits-like way.  Within my dream, I couldn’t shake this apprehensive feeling, as if I were aware that I were in the ironic musical, and that something bad was going to happen.

The next thing I know, I hear “just the canines,” and before I know it, it’s only the dogs left on stage, continuing to dance.  Wobbly legged, moving around on stage.  Suddenly, the voice calls out for “the old ones” and suddenly, it’s the Nik up on stage, by himself.  With his last ounces of energy, he tippy-toes around the stage, trying his hardest to keep balance, and do a spin.  It’s clear he wants to do it one more time, but he just can’t.  Age has caught up to him, in spite of his efforts, and the rest was just a blur, but I knew that he was gone.  This was a song and dance for his passing, that I’d rather have never seen.

I woke up at 3 in the morning, quietly, and not to like any ridiculous cold sweats.  I just opened my eyes, glanced at the alarm console on the wall, and then the clock.  I had never wanted to cry more than that moment in my entire life, or so it feels like.

Typically, Wednesdays are trivia nights.  When recollection of the dream came back to me earlier today, I decided to forgo trivia, and come straight home and sit around with the Nik instead.  Reality dictates that the Nik won’t live forever, and when the fateful day comes, if this is any indication, I’m going to be a fucking trainwreck for weeks.