Cameron looking at books

Monday nights are usually a little more exciting for me, but I felt a bit bored with tonight’s offerings.

This had a lot to do with the lackluster episode of The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The idea of a machine sent back to the wrong time seemed like a good idea when I first watched the preview (I’m sure the crew behind the show thought the same), but the episode just didn’t pan out.

There was a lot of buildup to a point where I thought this story might actually intertwine with the larger Terminator storyline, but I was sorely disappointed with the outcome.

Cool idea. Nothing moved the story along. This was mostly a filler episode.

The episode wasn’t necessarily bad. It was just a bit of a letdown compared to the past few. We did get to see John kick a little ass, so there was something worth watching for.

Heroes brightened the night just a little

I have a love/hate relationship with Heroes. Just as long as it stays interesting enough to watch and doesn’t turn into a soap opera, I’ll keep watching. I probably would’ve opted for One Tree Hill if there was a new episode airing.

This wasn’t the best episode to date nor was it the worst. The best thing about tonight’s show was that the story kept inching forward.

Sylar and Elle in Ecplipse: Part II

Now, if only Sylar could pick a side! To be perfectly honest, he’s gotta be a nut job if he can’t see how great a future with Kirsten Bell would be.

I’m excited about next week’s episode though.

How was your Monday night?

I hope you watched something worth watching this Monday. If so, please share.

Or, take the time to point out in the comments how off my Monday night review is.

Well, here is another promo for season three, which is being referred to as Villains.

My only hope is that Greg Grunberg’s comment about “Reading the first two scripts, I was like holy—” is actually a truthful statement.

Enjoy!

We have some spoilers for you below, including the brand new promo for season 3, and some interesting tidbits about Brea Grant’s character Daphne in regards to Hiro.

First, here is the promo:

Season 3 is called “Villains” and will pick up right where season 2 ended due to the writer’s strike. We’ll find out what happens to a few of the characters during that time, like Nathan Petrelli who was was shot.

But as far as Grant goes, she was formerly named Joy when we told you guys about her, but that changed to Daphne now.

She’s going to be The Joker to Hiro…in other words, his arch nemesis. This interview was found at Heroes Volume 3 thanks to io9.

“I’m stealing a secret that’s been kept in Hiro’s family for a long time that he’s just now found,� Brea Grant told The Associated Press during a break in filming on location in a high-rise building in downtown Los Angeles. “He stops time right as I grab it, but in that second it took him to grab it, I almost make it out of the office.�

Grant isn’t totally sure about Daphne’s powers, but apparently she had three speeds and leaves a sonic wake behind her. We’ll see it when Hiro stops time during one of her blistering runs.

“Her character is supposed to be Hiro’s Joker,� said Masi Oka, who plays Hiro. “Batman has The Joker. Hiro has Daphne. This is the season where Hiro finally finds his arch nemesis, and it happens to be this Speedster. I kind of equate it more to Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, except Daphne says more than ‘meep-meep.’�

Sounds good to me. I’m starting to have high hopes for next season.

I never watched the series, so the name Bruce Boxleitner didn’t mean a thing to me at first. But he starred in Scarecrow and Mrs. King during the series television run from 1983 to 1987.

The Ausiello Report claims he’s been cast in a recurring, top-secret role that was originally meant to mimic Senator John McCaine.  Since then it’s been “reconceived” and all Ausiello knows it that he’ll be sharing scenes with a female regular.

One might think after the Brea Grant news yesterday, that suddenly Heroes has lost its mind and is casting a whole new class of sucky new people to annoy us with.

Ausiello asked the same question, but his source says that’s definitely NOT the case. The series will still be focusing on their core group, but a few new characters are needed to make plots work.

That’s a relief, but I’m still uncertain about next season. I was so in love with this show in season 1, but once the finale disappointed me, it’s really never recaptured that original uniqueness and fun.

Come on Tim Kring, get it back on track!

Grant played Landry’s rebound girlfriend on Friday Night Lights last season, one I urged him to stay with instead of bailing to go back to the tall volleyball goddess.

She was super cute, wore little black glasses and was perfect for Landry. Alas, of course he went with the model good looks, instead of the comic book girl next door, which would likely be a tough decision for any guy.

At least she found her own “rebound.” The Ausiello Report tells us that Grant is joining Heroes in the role of Joy, “a girl who is quick on her feet – and adept at getting into and out of trouble.”

Unlike some other horrible character additions last season, this should be a good one. She was fun and a great addition to FNL, it was just a bummer she only lasted a few episodes.

Here is a little clip show of the various roles she’s played. The video does have the “F-word” in it once, so it’s sort of NSFW.

Ausiello reported it first, and BuddyTV had some additional comments on it, but the report is that Heroes creator Tim Kring is looking for “an Australian Aboriginal actor in his fifties to appear in multiple episodes as a storyteller with great wisdom and a soft, soothing voice.”

They seem to believe that means either Mohinder is out as narrator, or else Heroes will be going in a new direction entirely and get rid of the often boring voice-overs at the beginning and end of each episode.

We’ve told you guys a few times about how Kring completely owns it and realizes that season two of the show was just not very good. He’s vowed to fix these problems and bring the show back to its season one glory.

Let me tell you, I absolutely LOVED the first season…right up until the finale ended in a whimper and not the explosive finish we all hoped for. Since then, the series has plodded along at a disjointed pace.

I’m starting to get hopeful that season three will be a good one. According to BuddyTV, the season premiere is called Villains and will focus on Sylar and Angela Petrelli causing problems for the good guys.

My wish is that Kring realizes that fans want dark stories, great battles and good characters, instead of these feel good, soap opera-type plots.

And from what I’m reading, maybe he’s starting to get it.

And it’s looking like that COULD happen. Finally scrapping the ridiculous idea of Heroes: Origins (spinoff hell), the creators and writers are gearing up for a huge third season.

The fact that there is no Heroes returning this spring was a conscious decision made to give the creators time to rejuvenate and bring back some freshness to the series. From Sci Fi Wire:

“We consciously chose to rest [Heroes] this spring so that [creator] Tim Kring and his team could get ahead of the creative and build up to a massive event–a three-hour Heroes night,” Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, said during the network’s upfront presentation to advertisers in New York on April 2. “On Monday, Sept. 15, we’ll kick off with a Heroes clip show to try to bring back the audience and [then air] a massive two-hour Heroes film.”

Origins was discarded because it was “taxing” on their creative team, which is something I figured would happen. Trying to get your writers to pen an entire season of television, then to also write a spin-off at the same time seems a bit much to me personally.

My only hope now is that Kring takes a big look at the series and tries to get rid of the gooey little side stories, and start cranking up the superhero stuff. I want to see two sides start warring against each other: Sylar and his cronies against Peter and his fellow heroes.

However, if you are looking for when your favorite NBC shows will be on, and what new shows are coming down the pike, check out the schedule below, thanks to the Ausiello Report.

The most baffling part of all of it is that Saturday Night Live is showing on Thursday nights in the fall???

NBC Primetime Schedule for 2008, 2009

*New programs in UPPERCASE (with the exception of ER)

MONDAY
8-9 pm: Chuck
9-10 pm: Heroes
10-11 pm: MY OWN WORST ENEMY

TUESDAY
8-9:30 pm: The Biggest Loser: Families
9:30-10 pm: KATH & KIM
10-11 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

WEDNESDAY
8-9 pm: KNIGHT RIDER
9-10 pm: Deal or No Deal
10-11 pm: Lipstick Jungle

THURSDAY
8-8:30 pm: My Name Is Earl
8:30-9 pm: 30 Rock
9-9:30 pm: The Office
9:30-10 pm: The Office/SNL THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE*
10-11 pm: ER

* THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE will air for three weeks leading up to the presidental race.

FRIDAY
8-9 pm: CRUSOE
9-10 pm: Deal or No Deal
10-11 pm: Life

SATURDAY
8-9 pm: Dateline NBC
9-10 pm: KNIGHT RIDER (Encores)
10-11 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Encores)

SUNDAY
7-8:20 pm: Football Night in America
8:20-11 pm: NBC Sunday Night Football

NBC PRIMETIME SCHEDULE FOR WINTER 2009

*New programs in UPPERCASE (with the exception of ER)

MONDAY
8-9 pm: Chuck
9-10 pm: Heroes
10-11 pm: THE PHILANTHROPIST

TUESDAY
8-9:30 pm: The Biggest Loser: Couples
9:30-10 pm: KATH & KIM
10-11 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

WEDNESDAY
8-9 pm: KNIGHT RIDER
9-10 pm: Deal or No Deal
10-11 pm: Law & Order

THURSDAY
8-8:30 pm: My Name Is Earl
8:30-9 pm: 30 Rock
9-9:30 pm: The Office
9:30-10 pm: THE OFFICE SPIN-OFF
10-11 pm: ER/Celebrity Apprentice

FRIDAY
8-9 pm: Deal or No Deal
9-10 pm: Friday Night Lights
10-11 pm: Life

SATURDAY
8-9 pm: Dateline NBC
9-10 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Encores)
10-11 pm: Law & Order (Encores)

SUNDAY
7-8 pm: Specials/Dateline NBC
8-9 pm: Specials/MERLIN
9-10 pm: Specials/Medium
10-11 pm: Specials/KINGS

NBC PRIMETIME SCHEDULE FOR SUMMER 2009

*New programs in UPPERCASE

MONDAY
8-9 pm: American Gladiators
9-10 pm: AMERICA’S TOUGHEST JOBS
10-11 pm: Dateline NBC

TUESDAY
8-9 pm: Most Outrageous Moments
9-10 pm: America’s Got Talent
10-11 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Encores)

WEDNESDAY
8-9 pm: SHARK TAGGERS
9-10 pm: America’s Got Talent (Results Show)
10-11 pm: Law & Order (Encores)

THURSDAY
8-8:30 pm: The Office
8:30-9 pm: THE OFFICE SPIN-OFF
9-10 pm: Last Comic Standing
10-11 pm: THE LISTENER

FRIDAY
8-9 pm: CHOPPING BLOCK
9-11 pm: Dateline NBC

SATURDAY
8-9 pm: Drama Encores
9-10 pm: Drama Encores
10-11 pm: Drama Encores

SUNDAY
7-8 pm: Dateline NBC
8-9 pm: Monk
9-10 pm: Nashville Star
10-11 pm: KINGS (Encores)

According to ComingSoon.net, Kristen Bell is set to return to her role as Elle Bishop for season 3 of Heroes. Everyone knows my love of Kristen Bell, mainly because she frakkin’ rocked over on Veronica Mars for a few seasons before it was tragically canceled.

Heroes kind of sucked though last year, and this season of Lost, coupled with the return of The Office and Battlestar Galactica in the coming weeks, almost makes me totally forget that Heroes even exists.

Her character could have been better, but the entire season sort of dragged through the mud and I think a lot of the writing and stories suffered, so it’s no surprise that Bell’s addition to the show didn’t make a huge impact.

Bell stars in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, due to hit theaters pretty soon.

My background on this stuff is highly limited, but there is no doubt that I love superheroes and comics, I just never got into them when I was a kid. I think my parents steered me away from comic books, thinking they weren’t exactly “quality literature.” I am in no way upset about that missing element of my childhood, because I read so many books growing up that I think it was key in who I am today.

Yet I still feel like I missed out on growing up with these superheroes that so many people love and cherish. Batman has always been a favorite of mine so The Dark Knight Returns was a treat and a comic book I’ve been interested in reading for a long time.

I did a bit of research after finishing it up, just because even 20 years after it was published, it seemed so raw and powerful. My wife picked this one out for me because it was on a Top 25 list of graphic novels, and I wanted to know why, despite my instincts perhaps already grasping the answer.

Published over the first half of 1986, The Dark Knight Returns (DKR) changed the way graphic novels and comic books were done. It was gritty and hard, with adult themes. With it, Frank Miller is said to have “ushered” in the era of dark, gritty and grim superheroes over the next decade.

Watchmen also was released in 1986, and along with DKR, it helped shape a new landscape in the world of comic books. The themes got menacing, heroes became more than just good guys, they had dark pasts and even darker motivations. They were more violent and included stronger sexual content.

That ends the little history lesson I learned, although it was from Wikipedia and I’ll reckon there are a lot of fans out there that have their own versions of how influential DKR was.

I think this book was right up my alley because we still live in a world where superheroes aren’t so cut and dry happy anymore. I enjoy much darker versions of these guys, like with Christian Bale as the new Batman.

The novel is divided up into four books, The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Triumphant, Hunt the Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Falls.

My disadvantage in reading DKR was not knowing the history of the characters. I was struggling with names like Oliver (although I watch Smallville, so I shouldn’t have been so dense), Selina and others.

My favorite parts of the book though involved the Clark Kent aspect. I know there have been comics that tell the tales of “Batman versus Superman“, so I got the idea that while they both help in their own ways, they have major disagreements on methods used. Set in the mid-80′s, DKR has a big Soviet Union storyline and Clark is the one-man soldier for the United States. He also seems to be a “company man” in Bruce’s eyes, which he has utter disdain for.

One interesting thing I found in reading it, and then in my research later, was that the heroes use real names for each other. Superman uses “Bruce”, Batman uses “Clark.”

The world in this novel is supposed to be set in a future where most of the superheroes have been destroyed and the feeling is an “Us versus Them” mentality when it comes to the normal human race and guys like Batman and Superman.

The plot has all kinds of amazing elements to it. A huge political story is brewing spread out across the country and even locally in Gotham City. Commissioner Gordon is about to be replaced by a woman who will put an arrest warrant out on Batman immediately. The president is ignoring the task of dealing with Batman’s vigilante techniques.

At the same time, mutants have overrun Gotham, Harvey Dent has returned and thus Batman is forced out of a 10-year retirement.

The older Batman is just flat out awesome. Even with gray hair, the sheer size of the Dark Knight is amazing. The visuals in the book are outstanding in the fight scenes and you just get the impression that even aged a bit, this guy could destroy an entire police force.

Like I said before, my favorite parts were the interactions between Bruce and Clark. Especially the end, where they do major battle. You can just feel how epic the moment is as the world watches.

After reading it, I wished that the show Heroes could channel a bit of this style of superhero, because it’s seriously lacking anything dark and powerful.

Loved the book and now I’m just sucked into this universe and plan on reading the sequel to this one, The Dark Knight Strikes Again.

Rating from 1-5 popcorns: