7 Reasons You Should be Watching Cult

1. It's a TV show about a ... TV show. Yeah. Every time I try to explain it to someone it sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it's not. I tend to get sucked into TV shows I love ... just a little bit *cough cough* and I love that they took this idea and spun a whole mystery around it.

2. Matthew Davis. Okay, so I admit that he is the only reason I started watching this show. I loved him as Alaric on The Vampire Diaries and I was so sad when that character had run his course. So as soon as I heard he was going to be in a new show I was all over it. I practically had my DVR set before they even announced the premier date. Not only is he easy on the eyes, but I love the character he plays in Cult as well. It's actually a fairly similar part, but his tortured past, missing brother, and bulldog tenacity makes him someone you can really root for.

3. The show is smart, clever, and interesting with a mythology that keeps getting more and more intricate - but stays away from the paranormal or the supernatural which is a nice change of pace.

4. It doesn't take itself too seriously. The show pokes fun at itself, at fans, at other genres of shows - it's serious, but just light enough that it actually makes it more believable.

5. It's actually fairly believable. With what little I know about TV fandoms online, I can absolutely see a cult developing out of a TV show with fans willing to kill (literally) to be considered "true believers." My Dad and I started watching The Following, but after a few episodes it had crossed over into such unbelievable territory that we couldn't take it. It was also a lot more gory. Cult has a lot of similar elements, but the premise is something I'm much more willing to swallow. And it's a little lighter on the "horror" side.

6. The relationship between Jeff and Skye. From the minute these two meet there is a great chemistry. And I love that they have developed a friendship, but that the show creators don't seem to be dragging out the romantic side of it. Only 5 episodes in and there is already a definite movement toward something more in their relationship. Not that I like things to move quickly just to move quickly, but it can be crazy-making when you know the two main characters are going to get together eventually, but it takes like 4 seasons for no reason whatsoever.

7. The "other" TV show - also called Cult of course, and also put out by the CW (ha). I love the way we get snippets of this other show. Alona Tal and Robert Knepper play the girl who escaped and the cult leader SO well. Plus, getting to see them as actors and actresses "behind the scenes" is just such a fascinating construct for a show!

So there you have it. Here's one fan who is holding her breath and crossing her fingers that we get another season (at least)!

Whatcha Watchin' Fall '11

Once again I have proven myself to be a ridiculous tv addict. For serious. I love SO many of the new shows, am super excited about return of old favorites. AND my school schedule actually seems designed to fit around the shows I want to watch! I am sick! Sick I tell you!

And I love it!
So, for fun, here are the shows I'm watching and what I think about them :)

Watching the previews, I wasn't sure whether I was going to like this or not. I couldn't tell whether it was going to be great or super corny. Great. Definitely. Okay, so maybe a tiny bit of corniness, but I am loving it. Totally different than most of the other stuff I watch, so it's a nice adventurous sci-fi think. And the dinosaurs are pretty cool :)

I was NOT going to watch this. I thought it would be cute, but I just had too much on my plate, so I told myself I wasn't going to watch it. But it falls right between Terra Nova and Castle, so I flipped over to it this Monday. Oh my goodness. SO adorable. And hilarious. And full of ... heart :P

Some people are getting frustrated with Castle, but I love it as much as ever. Love, love, love, love. Maybe it's just Nathan Filion. Maybe it's the annoying new captain. Maybe it's the way they're bringing Ryan and Esposito more to the forefront this season. Yeah, they haven't gotten Beckett and Castle together yet, but to me it feels right, not annoying. Beckett had so many issues dredged up at the end of the last season. That's not going to go away overnight and Castle is completely tied up in all of it. Anyway. It's a great, humorous crime show and I loves it.

I almost didn't watch this again. Last season annoyed me. I kept hoping it was going to get better, but it never did in my opinion. Got home from school in time for the premier, so I turned it on. Seriously. The first 3 episodes of this season were better than the entire last season combined. It seems to have found its way again and it's not just S1 all over again. There is character growth! We get to learn more about minor characters! TONS of musical numbers! whee!

Another show that drifted toward the end of last season. This season is cracking me up so much. Hope is older, Virginia and Burt are pretty much the most hilarious people ever. <3

A lot of people are complaining about the corniness. Maybe a little, but I am really intrigued by how all of this is going to play out. I'm not sure how it can last more than one season, but it's kept my interest every episode and left me dying to watch the next one, so they're doing something right. Plus it's nice to see SMG in something new.

I'm not sure what I think about this season. Honestly, the Caroline and Jeremy storylines are the only ones that are really keeping me interested right now. The whole Stefan thing just isn't doing it for me.  I am curious where they're going to take everything.

I don't think I can possibly express how very, very excited I am to have Michael Emerson back on my tv every week. This show is so interesting and intriguing and almost like a crime show, but not. Jim Caviezel does a great job and did I mention MICHAEL EMERSON?! This show has so many possibilities and I hope it lasts for a long time.

So that's what I'm hooked on right now. Any shows you're loving this fall?

Two for Tuesday: Forgotten TV I Love

Somehow our family finds our way to random TV that we love, but that very few people seem to have heard of.

1. The Pretender.

This is one rare instance where everyone in our family loved a show. From my parents to me and my sisters to both of my brothers, this was the one show we could all watch together. I just started re-watching it and I love it still!

Michael Weiss plays a man who has been trapped inside "The Center" for the first thirty-something years of his life, running simulations to solve mysteries, crimes, problems, whatever. Now he's escaped and he can become anything and anybody that he wants to be. The show quickly develops an intriguing mystery as the background of Jarod and the relentless Miss Parker and their entanglement with The Center are slowly unveiled.

Weiss does a fantastic job of playing the innocence and joy of someone discovering the world for the first time. And it doesn't hurt that he's pretty easy on the eyes as well ;)

It only lasted 4 seasons and then there were 3 movies to try to wrap up loose ends, which was fairly effective. Definitely a show I recommend!

2. Dave the Barbarian

This short-lived glory of randomness needs to be released on DVD. For serious. This cartoon is SO random it definitely isn't for everyone, but if you like stupid hilarity, you should watch the bits that are posted on YouTube. Here's one for your viewing enjoyment!


Any forgotten TV you love, that most people haven't heard of?

Whatcha Watchin?

When I was growing up we never really watched TV. Not really. There would be maybe one show a season that we would watch and then everything else was hit or miss. For example, we NEVER missed an episode of Star Trek: Voyager.

So I'm not sure when I became such an avid TV viewer. I think I blame Lost. That was the first show I think I could sincerely attach the word "obsession" to. On TV, online, on DVD I'll have multiple shows going at once and multiple more that I wish I could get to!

Last season I couldn't miss:
1. Vampire Diaries - the second season was amazing. Plus the eye candy of Damon and Alaric :)
2. Castle - love this show to pieces. Hello Nathan Fillion (This also reminds me of the fact that I NEVER crushed on actors until recently... hm)
3. Raising Hope - Though it tapered off in hilarity for me this season I would watch it for the father alone. Oh my werd, but everything he says and does makes my mom, sister, and me laugh our heads off.

4. Glee - I watch it for the music. Really. The story line has completely lost my interest. But I do love when they have a good Sue episode.

And I liked when I could catch NCIS: Los Angeles. I love the cast they've gathered there. NCIS has kind of lost me because everything is pretty much the same that it was 2 seasons ago.

Also liked the occasional episode of Community.

And on DVD:
Dr. Who - The reboot. Just caught up with as much is available on DVD and I want to cry that we don't get BBC America. I think I'm a genuine Whovian now. (Also, David Tennant :D)
Buffy/Angel - Naomi and I were working our way through for the first time. We still have like 7 Angel episodes left.
Babylon 5 - Revisiting an old classic with my parents.
X-Files - Have to watch this only with my Dad as it freaks my Mom out and Naomi doesn't really care.
Firefly - Just finished my nth rewatch. Why oh why was that show canceled?!
Big Bang Theory - started from the beginning. Naomi and I now quote it regularly to each other. I haven't laughed so hard at a sitcom in a very long time. Every episode kills me. My favorite bits are always the exchanges between Sheldon and Penny.

Online:

Dollhouse - If you haven't seen this, and you like Joss Whedon's other stuff, GO. WATCH. It was streaming on Netflix and I became kind of obsessed. Also Tofer.
Torchwood - Netflix streaming is kind of my best friend. A lot of content that I didn't appreciate, but I got sucked in anyway. Not something I would rewatch, but I'm glad I watched it.
Battlestar Gallactica - the new one. I tried this because a lot of people I know loved it, but I just cannot get into it. I don't know as I'll really watch more.

And right now I am obsessed with So You Think You Can Dance! I love this show!


I also, inexplicably, love to catch an episode of Wipeout. I don't pay attention to when it's on or anything, but if it happens to be on I get excited and watch it. I can't explain my fascination with it.

So what do YOU like to watch? Have any good recommendations? I realize this list makes it sound like all I do is watch TV, but it's not as bad as it looks, so you don't need to plan an intervention :D


Also, this is too me not to post.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

The End

Tonight Dad, Mom, Naomi, and I finished the special features on "The End of Time" - the final David Tennant Dr. Who special. Us girls found ourselves getting a bit emotional listening to the actors and watching the replay of the last scenes of the episode. It isn't the end of Dr. Who, because we know that Matt Smith has taken over and there have been two more years of Dr. Who since that ending.

But it was the end. It felt much more like a series finale than a season finale for me. I think some of that has to do with the nature of Dr. Who. Because of the regeneration, it's very much a new show with, in this case, a whole new cast and even a new producer.

(If you don't care about Dr. Who hang in here with me for a moment and I promise I'll tie it into a larger topic in a minute.)

Besides that, as brilliant as I'm sure Matt Smith is, I just think that David Tennant is absolutely brilliant and he was my first doctor. I've heard it said that you often feel a stronger connection to your first Doctor when you encounter Doctor Who.

Anyway. It's over and the specials have all been watched, but I find my thoughts lingering on the show and I find myself feeling almost depressed over the fact that this fictional character of the tenth doctor is never returning to my tv screen. Knowing I'll never see him make friends, make mistakes, continue to grow and change and LIVE makes me incredibly sad. But it was satisfying and beautiful at the same time. This got me to thinking - what makes a good ending? And then I started thinking about other endings that have affected me just as strongly and I started wondering why some are so memorable and others aren't.

I love a happy ending, but I also seem to like shows, and even books, that leave things a little bit open. I like room to imagine what's going to happen next. And honestly, I seem to like a little bit of bittersweet as well. Which is kind of a revelation for me, because I'm such a firm believer in the happy ending ending. I think it depends on how it's handled and the MOST important thing is that the ending is satisfying.

I could make a really long list, but here are a few endings I have loved:

The Hunger Games Trilogy and the Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins. I am such a Collins fangirl. I think she is absolutely brilliant. Both of these series end so bittersweetly and the thing that makes the difference is the hope. With all of the tragedy and death and horror there is hope that the characters can survive and can overcome the terrible things they've come in contact with. I get teared up just thinking about it. But the hope at the end would never have been so powerful if there hadn't been the terror right up until the last possible moment. The pain of the characters emphasizes the power of their ability to move on.

From Crazy Frankenstein

Friends. I discovered this show when I was an undergrad when a friend started lending me the seasons. I fell in love with the six characters and the ending was perfect. Each of them ready to move on with their lives, filled with possibilities, but that poignant moment when they all set down their keys and leave the apartment and the slow pan brings me to tears every time. It's an absolutely wonderful moment.

From Flash Screen

Lost. Yes, I was on the side of those that loved it. It threw me for a loop the first time I saw the finale, but after some time of processing and talking with other fans I realized that it was a beautiful and perfect ending. So there were unsolved mysteries. Wasn't that the whole point of the show? To keep people thinking and guessing and speculating? If everything was wrapped up nice and pretty it would have destroyed the power of the entire show. The characters were what really mattered. It was because of them that we cared so much about the mysteries. And each of them had some sort of conclusion to their story in a beautiful and meaningful way.

From Here

The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. I cannot express my delight in these books enough. They are some of my favorites of all time and I was honestly terrified in wondering how the series would end, but I should have had more faith in Mr. Snicket. Open ended, bittersweet, and hopeful with enough bizarre twists and strange happenings to make it a worthy finale to a wonderful series.

I definitely have a lot of food for thought as I work towards the ending of my novel. Because I want to make it an ending that people will love and remember.

So what makes a good ending for you? Do you like wrapped up and happy? Or loose ended and mysterious? Or a mixture?

Ahem. Palatable.

I know it's supposed to be Writerly Monday, but I have been swamped this week.

Besides, today is S.A.D. aka Singleness Awareness Day aka Valentine's Day.

So I've decided to opt for something different and FUN and totally shallow*. But I will tie it in to writing somehow...

I love a good character, but I especially love a good male tv character. I'm not one to moon over/crush on actors or other famous people. But I totally crush on characters, because for me, the biggest thing that makes a guy ... palatable or not is his attitude and behavior. Totally. And watching them helps me to write them.

So here is my second list of

FAKE PEOPLE I FIND PALATABLE


In no particular order and usually based on tv shows/movies that I have recently been obsessed with.

*Hey, I only do one totally shallow post a year, so come back later for the intellectual stuff.


Nick from "When in Rome" which is one of my favorite movies from last year. I actually went to see it in the theatre, which I RARELY do with romcoms, and I fell in love with it. So. Cute.

 The Tenth Doctor... David Tennant=genius

Chandler Bing. Classic. And surprisingly difficult to find a good picture of. Where is the Chandler love?! And how absolutely thrilled am I to see Matthew Perry return to tv? Mr. Sunshine's debut totally cracked me up.

Xander Harris. Especially after this magnificent speech in S7. Caution, mild spoilers in the video. But I watched it like 3 seasons ago and it made me even more invested in the characters, so...

Damon Salvatore. Perfect proof that it's the character that gets me, not necessarily the actor or the appearance. Hated Boone on Lost. Okay, maybe disliked is a better term. But Damon? Seriously. Best reason to watch Vampire Diaries. And after reading Kiersten White's recap I will forever talk about "Damon Eye Thing."





















Topher Brink from Dollhouse. I watched this show streaming on NetFlix (my BFF) both seasons in about 2 weeks. Joss Whedon is my hero. I loved Topher from the beginning even though you really shouldn't. And then... well. Spoilers people. Seriously. Go watch this show. It will blow your mind. And you get to see this adorable face...

Richard Castle. All right. I know I said no particular order, but I had to leave this for last because, as much as I adore Castle, I have to admit that Nathan Filion is kind of the only actor I totally could crush on. I have loved everything I've seen him in. Everything. And I've heard personal stories from people who have attested to the all around goodness of the actual person. Win. Just total win.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Some Stuff I Learned :)

So today I actually took time to bounce around and catch up a little bit on y'all's blogs. If I haven't made it to you yet, well, let's just say that I spent all day reading and I still have 848 unread posts in Google Reader.

Anyhoodles.

One thing that I have noticed all around is that people are posting lists of things they learned this year and I had so much fun reading yours, that I decided to make one of my own. So here goes - my witty and wise lessons of 2010:

1) Pantsing can be totally good for me. Sometimes I need to shut up my internal editor and just get some words on the page. Because really awesomesauce things can happen that way that I KNOW would never happen otherwise.

2) "Research" and "Plotting" can = "Procrastination." I am NOT saying that I shouldn't research or plot, but when I sit down to write and spend the whole time doodling about things that might possibly happen in the sequel to the book I haven't even finished yet, it is NOT GOOD.

3) It is possible to write a WHOLE lot more than I do now. If there was one thing I learned from NaNo, it's that when I make myself find the time, I find it. Even in the middle of the rest of life there IS time for writing.

4) There are really awesome authors out there. Okay, so I already knew that, but with the chance to meet some of my writing heroes as well as some authors I had never really heard of or read, I have come to one conclusion. We authors are pretty much the coolest people ever.

Crazy people tend to gravitate to each other :D

5) You meet the right people at the right time. I met a lot of new people this year, both in person and online and each one of them has come into my life for a specific reason. Some of them it was only for a season - maybe even just that one encounter. Some of them are friendships that could last me a lifetime. I am incredibly grateful for every single one of them.





6) There is NO substitute for a good book. Okay, I knew that already, too, but having lost a lot of my leisure reading time, I can tell you that I adore those moments when I can curl up and lose myself in a book I'm reading just because I want to. Each book I read becomes a part of who I am and reminds me that it is still possible to write something good and fun and worthwhile, no matter how much has been written before.


7) TV shows can sometimes feel like a good book. You know, when the writing and the casting and the acting all gels and you get that really special show that pulls you in and makes you believe that it's real and you cry and laugh and want to LIVE with the characters. It doesn't happen that often, but I've discovered a few shows like that this year. Some are fluffier than others, but each one of them has impacted my story-telling abilities. It's still the written word, even if we're receiving it through a different medium.

8) Sometimes you need a break from the internet. I am blessed in that I have easy and ready access to the web pretty much any time I want it. We have WiFi at home and it's at school too. Then we left on Christmas day and visited my Grandma and Papa who have no computer much less interwebs. It was a much needed and surprisingly refreshing break. I'm glad to be back, but I think I will definitely need to take a week off here or there to keep myself alive.

9) You learn something SO much better when you teach it to someone else. I spent 30 years of my life trying to figure out how on earth to use commas. Then I taught college freshmen and we went over it and now I remember almost all of the rules and I'm actually able to give the reason as to why a comma should or should not be used. Does that mean I always do it right? No, I screw up that no comma before a coordinating conjunction that's followed by a dependent phrase rule ALL the time. But now I can go back and see that it's wrong.

10) Never say Never. I told myself I would NEVER in a million years write a novel featuring a vampire. Cue SNI with the faeries and the vampires and the gnomes and everything. And cue me loving every minute of it. It's not like most vampire novels and they're not really normal vampires either. I mean they are, but don't go thinking Sookie Stackhouse or Twilight or anything. It's more about the faeries and the faerie tales. But what I'm trying to say is, if I'd stuck to that vow this WIP would be a LOT less interesting and I'd be having a lot less fun right now. Keep your mind open to the possibilities or else you might miss something!

And I'll stop it there. A lot of these are writing related, but I think I've done the most growing in how I approach my writing this year so there you have it. Thank you to everyone who has helped to to learn and grow and realize that I'm not alone on this crazy journey whether it's writing or reading or grading a thousand papers - you all rock socks.