RINGER: impressions written LIVE

The opening scene is very dark and probably intended to invoke BtVS . . . but will anyone buy it?

So, now I know that SMG plays twin sisters Siobhan (pronounced SHOW-vahn) and Bridget. Bridget is a witness in an FBI murder investigation of a local crime lord and she's also a stripper & recovering addict. Siobhan is a wealthy socialite that, apparently lives in the beachside mansion that Julia Roberts escaped from in the hit thriller Sleeping With The Enemy. (Update: That beach house is a Hamptons get away and not the main dwelling, which is in NYC. But I saw that any echoes to Sleeping With The Enemy was a presage of what would come next.)

I also know that Nestor Carbonelle (Don't-accuse-me-of-wearing-eyeliner "Richard Alpert" from LOST) is the agent responsible for keeping Bridget safe before the trial.

Oh my goodness . . . the boat scene in the first act has graphic quality from approximately 1984. TERRIBLE! SMG has a history with working on the CW network and not always having the best quality Fx, but that was mostly in the first season of BtVS and things were better after that. Not at all acceptable in 2011, no matter the television network.

The boat scene set up the mysterious disappearance/death (?) of Siobahn and allowed Bridget to then assume her socialite twin's identity. This will allow her to escape even further from the reach of the crime lord she is supposed to testify against.

And the transitions between scenes is-- how shall I say? Nonexistent?!

(But things got better after a decidedly rough first 12 minutes. I wonder how than an episodic 52 minutes because there is the need for character introduction and plot exposition. And this show definitely needed that to set up the differences between the twins and all of those twists that got glossed over quickly in a regular hour of drama.)

It seems that mirrors will play a strong role in the visual clues of this show. (You know, because there are twins and all.) But the last season of LOST taught me to think that mirror images are clues of parallel worlds
and possible purgatorial side plots. Will THAT play a role in Ringer as the season progresses?

***

And then I started watching and trying to follow the plot twists. There were some definite rough spots in this first episode, but nothing terrible. And the story provided enough interesting drama and upcoming mystery to keep me come back for a few more episodes.

Channel: The CW
Night: Tuesday, debuted September 13th
Time: 9-10

Ringer season premiere: live blog edition

I've never been good at the live blogging thing. When do you hit publish so that the people who are desperately waiting to read your words can get their fix?!!!

But I promised yesterday that I would publish something tonight about the new SMG show Ringer and so I am going to jot down thought about the show and themes as I watch and then post a cleaned ip and edited version of things later tonight.

So now you know what to look out for. And don't be afraid to shoot me a reaction to something on Twitter. I can try to monitor on my phone at the same time.

(Hey, it's new Fall TV season time. That's when I've got to throw things into high gear and pull out all of the stops!)

Preparing for the Fall Preview

It is mid September and I haven't even really started thinking about what I need to do to write this year's series of Fall TV preview posts.

This is, sadly, par for the course right now. I am really lagging behind on many things digital and I've got to find a way to get back into the routine. And perhaps nothing fits that bill better than the Fall TV Preview posts that I've faithfully produced each year that I've been blogging.

I'm not going to suggest that you can't approach the new slate of shows without my guidance. I wouldn't dare be so foolish. But here's hoping I can find something interesting and entertaining to say about some of the shows that will be impeding your time in the next few months. And maybe I can highlight one show that you might not watch . . . but maybe I can convince you?

I won't try to examine everything--and don't be deceived into thinking that I have access to actual shows any sooner than you do. I'm no professional. I'm just giving you my impressions of network Web sites and magazine write ups, plus throwing in my two cents for shows I've been watching for a while and why I think you should watch them to. So I'm going to be picking and choosing in whatever way suits my fancy when I sit down to write.

Normally I try to get the shows all written up before they begin to air. I may miss a few of those this year. I think, in light of this late start and struggle for motivation, that I will kick things off in semi-real time tomorrow night with a review of the new show Ringer, which premieres tomorrow night at 9 pm, I believe. It stars Sarah Michelle Geller (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) fame, which is 75% of why I am deciding to give this show a try at all. But it does have an interesting murder/twins/mystery plot that might capture the imagination. I won't say much more here and try to save some thoughts and descriptions for tomorrow night after it airs live.

After that is up and running, we'll see. I think most shows still don't premiere until next week, so I'll use Ringer to get my butt in gear and try to have things up on a rolling basis as other schedules and activities allow.

At the very least, I can try to tweet out my impressions of things and keep in touch that way. (You REALLY should follow me on Twitter anyway.)

So, keep an eye out for my Ringer review tomorrow.

Until then . . .

Happy Anniversary!

No, not to me and my wife. That was last month.

Today is the anniversary of the first WWYG?! post, many years ago.

I know I haven't been writing on the site much in the last many month, and for that (as usual) I apologize. I do think about the site weekly and try to come up with ideas and motivations to craft something that might be interesting to read. But, sadly, I haven't been doing much.

But perhaps I can get remotivated by this turn to a new WWYG?! year. I am always looking to you, my loyal readers and friends for ideas, so feel free to toss me a comment below about how YOU think I should keep WWYG?! updated more frequently. Am I not writing about something that you think I am suited for? (Because I often need some outside perspective to see things in a different light.)

And while you're commenting, why not nominate a favorite post from the past that you liked. If nothing else, maybe I can call up a few items from the archives and toss those out again. (Hey, if Hollywood can repurpose old things into new money-makers, I can do something similar for no charge, right?)

The Little Things

So, I'm sitting on the couch this morning playing Angry Birds and listening to iTunes (my 4 Stars playlist, if you're interested . . . and yes, I know . . . what a productive Saturday morning!) . . .

. . . and as I'm trying to work out how to destroy this batch of stupid pigs, my shuffle throws up The Remus Lupins "I Was a Teenage Werewolf."

(By the way, I should point out that Sarah is across the room reading the Hunger Games on the opposite couch. And that Lynda and Grace and Hannah are off getting party supplies.)

Andbutso . . . the Remus Lupins is (are?) singing about how challenging it was to be a teenager and dealing with the struggles of lycanthrope and being misunderstood and whatnot. And I'm fighting the pigs. And Sarah is reemersing herself in the much more dire stuggles of Katniss Everdeen.

And a lyric in the song comes up as follows "At Hogwarts, its true we ruled the school/and you could never be as cool/as you are with Marauders at your side . . ." etc, etc. etc.

The point was this/that was just building the scenery . . .

(Providing all of the backstory is HARD . . . and I'm not even done.)

And so, as this song lyric is floating across the room from my iPad to Sarah's couch, I lift my head and look across at her. And I see (as I suspected) that she was doing the same thing to me--looking up and looking across.

(You see, just a few days before, we were watching Harry Potter Puppet Pals, "The Vortex" and we were laughing at how Puppet Harry was acting so differently than actual Harry every would--getting angry and resentful  and arrogant and saying "I'm Harry Potter; I rule the school!" and here was this random moment where The Remus Lupins was using that same phrasing of "ruling the school" and I look up and Sarah looks up . . .)

And we made the same wordless, eyebrows raised, head bob manuever to each other and then just started laughing.

**

I suppose, from another perspective this seems very narcissistic of me . . . but I found it affirming instead. To know that I have made an impact in her life--even if that impact is (in this case) a shallow one that may not mean much in the larger scheme of her life development . . . well, it is these things that I as a parent cherish.