40 posts tagged “veronica mars”

In my world, the wicked don't get parting gifts. -- Veronica Mars

I posted this earlier this week but then took it down because I...decided to post something else. What it was, I can't remember, and actually, I probably ended up taking it down, too. Whatever. I'm ADD when it comes to posting.

Anyway, I found this fraktastic homage to Veronica Mars and have watched it a gobzillion times.

Warning: if you haven't finished the series, are planning on finishing the series and/or don't want to be spoiled one iota, don't watch.

Otherwise, click play.

I just caught up on the last two weeks of Eli Stone, and I'm still wiping the stray tears leaking from the corners of my eyes. That show never fails to make me tear up. Greg Berlanti is so genius at hitting the emotional button.

I am so glad they're giving Julie Gonzalo a bigger role. I loved her on Veronica Mars, and she's even more awesome now that she gets to play her age and not an 18-year-old college freshman. I'm not a guy, so I guess I don't think the same way, but I think she's so much cuter than Natasha Henstridge. The little moment Maggie and Eli shared was so adorable. I hope there's more. And I hope Eli Stone comes back next season.

That brings us to The Return of Jezebel James -- and the return of Amy Sherman-Palladino.

I'm honestly perplexed at the decision to use a laugh track. It is so distracting. The writing is vintage ASP -- it's witty and funny. (And guess what? I'm smart enough that I don't have to be prompted as to what's funny, thanks very much, annoying laugh track.) The dialogue is very reminiscent of Gilmore Girls. I've always liked Parker Posey, and while I never really cared for Six Feet Under, I loved Lauren Ambrose in Can't Hardly Wait.

I'm also perplexed at the decision to name Ambrose's character Coco. Also, I really don't like Sarah and Coco's parents. Or Mr. Medina. I mean, Marcus, Sarah's hook-up partner. (I did smile at the Gypsy cameo.) But the show has potential -- it's well-written, mostly-well-acted (although, if Sarah is supposed to be slightly Lorelai-reminiscent, Posey doesn't come close to the awesomeness that is Lauren Graham), and has a promising premise.

I just wish they'd lose the stupid laugh track.

Seriously, this is the best thing EVER.

I would be astounded if someone were to watch this and not fall in love with Veronica instantly. It would be literally beyond my comprehension.

I'm serious. Literally. Beyond. Comprehension.

(And she could've left off that last scene, 'cause I had just gotten to the point where I could hear that song without getting all nostalgic and emo. Crap.)

Twelve minutes of Veronica Mars, Season 4 have surfaced.

When Kristen effortlessly tears up in Minute One, I teared up. Didn't some guy named Pavlov do some sort of study? Maybe there were dogs involved? And bells?

As Michael Ausiello so succinctly stated, "It was so good it nearly brought me to tears thinking of what might have been."

Me, too, Mike. Me, too.

Because tonight's "Fight or Flight" episode of Heroes marks the auspicious debut of the probably-bad-but- nevertheless-enigmatic-and-utterly-fascinating Elle, I thought I'd change up the theme of my blog for the day.

Enjoy.

(See? I told you I'd be back to my regularly-scheduled shallowness after yesterday's uncharacteristically serious post.)

I'm urging everyone to either sit down in front of the TV at 7 p.m. (8 p.m. EST) -- or set your DVRs/TiVos -- and check out Gossip Girl.

Yes, I know, it's on the CW, the killer of Veronica Mars. But if I'd taken that attitude three years ago, I'd have missed out on, well, Veronica Mars. Ew. It's on UPN? The network that killed Buffy in favor of, ugh, wrestling? No, thanks.

Josh Schwartz might not be quite on Rob Thomas' level, but he's a pretty darn good writer, and he's got quite the ear for snappy, snarky dialogue. Season 1 of The OC was hands-down outstanding, and even parts of Season 2 didn't suck. Then he got sidetracked with other stuff, but I prefer not to associate Seasons 3 and 4 with the original show. I pretend it was just an uglier half-sibling.

Entertainment Weekly, Matt Roush, Michael Ausiello, and Kristin Veitch are all giving it favorable reviews. The New York Times tried to criticize it by saying it's more serious than the novels and layers in more backstory that make the Upper East Side prep school Mean Girls more sympathetic, and I'm like, how is that bad? I've actually stopped reading the novels, just because I don't want to know everything that happens, and I like how Blake Lively describes her character so much better than how Serena's portrayed in the novels.

I think I've said in the past how I really don't bother investing in characters with whom I don't sympathize, and debauchery for debauchery's sake -- which is more or less the core of the novels -- really doesn't do much for me. So the fact that Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are attempting to add depth to these characters is definitely a good thing. I'm a sucker for a good redemptive storyline, and that's basically how Lively has described Serena -- a former bad girl who's trying to change.

Maureen Ryan (Chicago Trib) and I normally see eye-to-eye, but she really doesn't like GG. Of course, she also tried comparing it to Veronica Mars. Um, I don't think anyone is attempting to compare the two. They are two totally different genres. She also says it's no OC, and there aren't any Seth Cohens or Ryan Atwoods among the cast. Well, I disagree on one point -- Penn Badgely is very Seth Cohen-esque, if not quite as adorkable. I don't mind that there's no Ryan Atwood. Cute Austin native or not, Ben McKenzie was always so...wooden. I was never overly fond of Ryan, and I never did understand his obsession with Marissa. Let's just hope there are no Marissas/Mischa Bartons in the mix. Ugh.

TV Gal over at Zap2It.com has given it three stars so far, which, for her, means that she'll watch it if she's home, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, just because I'm a fan of Josh Schwartz and Blake Lively and am hoping the show lives up to its expectations, I'm not above kicking it to the curb if it sucks. As with the rest of my lineup, I'll give it two episodes to prove itself Season Pass worthy.

Nothing else is on tonight, unless you count Kid Nation, which, I'm sorry, when I hear "kids," "STDs," "medical problems" and "liabilities" in the same sentence, I tend to feel a little sick to my stomach. I definitely won't be checking out that new gem of a reality TV show.

So watch Gossip Girl, if only to hear Kristen Bell KILL with the snarky narration.

How in the world have I never seen this?

I laughed. And laughed. Which was not good, considering that I then spent the next hour coughing.

It was so worth it.

(Seriously. How do people NOT like KB?)

I'm up way early, which is kind of a surprise, especially considering I didn't go to bed till 1:30 because I was working on the book. (I knocked out fifteen frakking pages. I can't believe it, either.)

Anyway, I was going through the videos I've got posted here to see if I needed to cull any of them, and well, let's just say I never made it past the last page. (I started there.)

I stumbled across the Save-Veronica-Mars promos. One made me laugh. Then the other...well, let's just say there is a LOT of dust in the room. Or, um, I fell asleep before taking off my eye makeup, and...it burns.

(Fish) -- if you're not through the grieving process, you might not want to watch the last one. Personally, I think I've stumbled right back into Step One.

HOW could this show have been canceled?

Vintage Veronica:

We Move On (No! I don't want to!):

I'm finally getting around to ranking the 2007 finales. Three weeks after the fact. I know.

As much as "Weevils Wobble but They Don't Fall Down/The Bitch is Back" rocked -- and I really thought the show ended the best way it possibly could, if it wasn't going to get a fourth season -- and as much as Veronica got the nostalgia vote, in the end, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse proved that they've known what they've been doing all along.

So without further adieu...

The Best Finales of 2007

1. LOST: "Through the Looking Glass"

2. Veronica Mars: "Weevils Wobble but They Don't Fall Down/The Bitch is Back"

3. Grey's Anatomy: "Didn't We Almost Have it All" (Honestly, Grey's and VM were neck-to-neck there for a long time, but VM pulled ahead at the end by virtue of it being her swan song.)

4. Heroes: "How to Stop an Exploding Man"

5. Prison Break: "Sona"

6. The Office: "The Job"

And...that's all I watched. I'm sure I caught the finales of a couple of the procedurals I love, but I can't remember them being especially spectacular. I stopped watching 24 about six episodes into this season; I stopped watching Gilmore Girls at Christmas; and although I enjoyed this season of House, I...finally got tired of House's bitching and the character assassination of Dr. Cameron. I didn't watch the last four or so episodes of this season and I probably won't watch next season.

Also? I was going to do my own little version of TV Guide's Dream Ballot, but I don't watch enough shows to come up with a fairly well-represented ballot.

But to summarize, I'd expect the following to get some recognition:

Drama: LOST, Veronica Mars, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes

Comedy: The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs

Lead Actor, Drama: Hugh Laurie, Matthew Fox, TR Knight

Lead Actress, Drama: Kristen Bell, Lauren Graham, Evangeline Lilly, Chandra Wilson

Supporting Actor, Drama: Jack Coleman, Michael Emerson

Supporting Actress, Drama: Elizabeth Mitchell

Lead Actor, Comedy: Steve Carrell, Zach Braff, Neil Patrick Harris

Lead Actress, Comedy: Alyson Hannigan, and ummmmmmmmmm I refuse to vote for any Desperate Housewife, so I've got nothing else.

Supporting Actor, Comedy: John Krasinski, Donald Faison

Supporting Actress, Comedy: I don't think Jenna Fischer's performance was all that strong this season; I guess Sarah Chalke?

ETA: I forgot perhaps the funniest line of the entire episode. So I added it to the title. :)

I had planned to do this ultimate recap on the two-hour series (sob) finale of Veronica Mars.

But I...just can't.

(And in unrelated news, I really must change the air filter in my apartment. I mean, all this dust! Why else would my eyes be tearing up?)

Part of me really wishes Rob would've wrapped everything up in a nice, tidy bow, but then the rest of me is kind of glad he didn't. It ended as this show should've ended: incomplete and a little bit messy. Plus, like the series finale of Angel, we're all left to imagine things ending how we individually want them to end.

The finale did an excellent job of reinforcing what has been so important this series: that at the end of the day, Keith and Veronica love each other so much that they will go to sometimes unscupulous means to protect each other. Oh, and also? Veronica kills at a) sleuthing, stealth, and revenge and b) snark. (And also that Neptune will always be ruled by the rich and powerful.)

Sigh. I imagine Keith won't win sheriff, but then again, it's kind of (im)perfect that way. He sacrificed the election for Veronica's protection, and Neptune isn't Neptune if it isn't run by a Don Lamb wannabe, who will look the other way whenever possible.

Tons of continuity and meta. I probably missed a lot of it, but I appreciated seeing Nish and Chip Diller again, and even Jake Kane and Clarence Weidman. (And Lilly and Duncan, via large, slightly creepy-looking oil paintings.) I'm glad that Dick finally, FINALLY faced what happened to Beaver, and his culpability in his brother's massive meltdown. His apology to Mac was spot-on: alcohol-induced sincerity, followed quickly by trademark Dick. Mac's rejection was priceless.

The Logan/Veronica scenes were typical, but that last moment was really well-done. It was Logan's way of atoning, apologizing, and serving his death wish all at once.

I'm so glad Weevil was back to his criminal-with-a-heart-of-gold ways. He was SO BORING as a law-abiding citizen. (Also, how awesome was the title of the first hour: "Weevils Wobble But They Don't Fall Down." Seriously. Awesome.)

I recognized a couple of names on the secret society master list. Phil Klemmer's a writer and I forget the others, but that's vintage Rob & Co. They're forever sneaking in meaningful names in the most random of circumstances.

Anyway. There's much more to be said, but then, there's always more to be said when it comes to this show.

I will miss it terribly.